Happy Birthday, Shego!
by NFKGS
Summary: It's a few days from New Year's Eve, four and a half years after the Lorwardian invasion. For Shego, this New Year’s Eve means not only turning thirty, but wrestling with poor choices made, and whether to take a risk on new chances offered...
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: Any original characters are the property of the co-authors of this fanfiction. Kim Possible and all directly associated characters are owned, trademarked, and registered by Disney. Any other name, product, song, etc. are registered, trademarked, and/or copyrighted by their respective owners. Should they - or their legally permitted affiliates - request it, the co-authors will remove references to them from this fanfiction, or remove this fanfiction in its entirety, from the Web. Thank you.**

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**Happy Birthday, Shego!**

**Prologue**

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_Oh Hell._

_Oh _fucking_ hell. Great, a _major_ screw up on my part. Maybe that's an understatement... Hell, it is, but still, it wasn't entirely my fault, right?_ I laugh weakly as my inner irresponsibility tries desperately to convince me that it wasn't my fault. I watch from the edge of the cordoned area as Will Du, second-in-command of Global Justice, barks a series of commands and several eyes zero in on him with angry intensity. A part of me is vindicated, and rightly so, as several officers grumble at his failure during the op.

_See?_ Stick-in-his-ass Will Du felt it imperative to disengage pursuit of Gemini and pull my team back to give the command team back up and help with the injured, all one of them. _Oh, could this be any better?_ I think to myself as he holds himself up in self righteous indignation over reactions to his orders. _It was his fault that we failed to capture Gemini! He declared that the mission was over when it shouldn't have been…_

I sigh heavily as I catch myself twirling my hair in my fingers again. Something I did a lot the first time I did the hero thing. _At least this time I'm getting paid working for GJ, and making a hell of a lot more than Blue-boy ever paid me..._ I force myself to stop twirling, instead I pull out a pack of smokes, another bad habit I picked from the hero business. I smile ruefully as I flare up a fingertip, the green plasmic glow igniting the cigarette easily.

_Heh, who'd have thought that villainy would foster healthier habits?_ Not that I have to worry, particularly. The comet that gave my brothers and I our powers also removed any chance of getting cancer, at least outside of a tailored virus or the like. Taking a deep drag, I stifle a laugh as Du looks over at me, his distaste for my habit written all over his face. I grin and blow a cloud of smoke in his direction, earning a roll of his eyes as he turns to bark out some more orders.

I hold the cigarette between my lips and scrub my fingers through my hair, trying to straighten a few tangles my nervous twisting gave it. I mean, what was I to do? Disobey GJ's second in command and get_another_ review and a possible suspension for my 'inability to follow orders'? Either way, Betty's gonna chew me up one side and down the other. That is if the mission leader doesn't get to me first. I wonder if she still holds a grudge from last week. _Damn you, Du, it's entirely your bloody fault! Asshole!_

I try to look as inconspicuous as possible as I shoot deadly glares at the uptight Asian as he orders people around. Maybe he's got something against me? I mean, here I am, a former super villain, and I probably make a better agent than him. Betty definitely likes me better, anyway, and so do most of the people in the chain of command. Well, no contest there; who likes that uptight dickwad anyway? "Hmm...?" I ask myself aloud as a Global Justice assault hovercraft flares into a landing profile, taking my attention away from Du as it lands. I wonder idly who's here to clean up this mess.

_Wait, who else...?_ I ask ironically, then close my eyes and rub my eyes with my thumb and forefinger. "Oh,_ hell_ no, not him." I moan nervously as I glance over to the hovercraft. The ramp drops and a familiar pair of 'mission' pants and boots are visible at the top. _Anyone but him._ My heart skips a beat as I see that familiar, ambling swagger as he walks down the still descending ramp, his tight body and strong arms not at all hidden by a GJ issue turtleneck sweater. Then that freckled face comes into view, lips and eyes beaming a smile of apparent relief as he glances around, looking for the mission leader. _Dammit, God, why do you have such a cruel sense of fucking humor? Couldn't they have sent anyone other Global Justice's golden boy._

But no, no one up there seems to want to listen to me. He ambles down the rear ramp of the assault hovercraft, and looks around again. After spotting a team of medics checking on our mission leader, who was starting to bitch audibly after being poked and prodded by a team of medics for the last five minutes, he starts to confidently survey the catastrophic scene around him. Collapsed scaffolding, one injured agent and restrained henchmen. Not a pretty sight. Not as pretty as him.

I let out a distracted sigh as he walks out from under the tail section to check up on the team leader, his straw blond hair swaying slightly with every step he takes. He's just a hair shorter than me, meaning he's about an even six feet tall. Granted, he'd had his growth spurt a few years back during his first year in college, growing into those hands and ears of his, but it still doesn't take away the impression he makes walking into a room. His steps are steady and confident, totally devoid of the buffoonery I now have fond memories of. His cat-like grace is definitely alluring, a side product of his years of training in that Japanese ninja school of his, not to mention the nearly decade-long sidekick act.

As Lexi in supply back at Middleton HQ likes to say, "What a delish piece of man meat." And here I am agreeing with her; he's an absolutely delicious man, one with that 'just right' mix of body, attitude, confidence, and domestic ability that a lot women dream about, even if they don't realize that's what they want. Hell, I didn't, until I got to know him. He's also a man that's flirted more and more openly with me for the last two and a half months. _But he's also the one that just so happens to have a fiancé that's pissed at me. _

With good reason too, I guess. Rumors, schrumors, there's got to be a grain of truth in them, right? No one has the imagination to come up with a wild rumor like the one that got the idea in my head to actually pursue him, y'know? Plus, the guys from the intel department should know what they were talking about, shouldn't they? Yeah, right... Military intelligence my ass!

Still, I didn't have to jump the gun. But, like this Gemini screw-up, I had to go off half cocked, just like in the bar last week at that GJ gathering. I mean, I don't steal boyfriends, let alone fiancés! Well, in the very least not from friends. But, just like last week I find myself studying his every movement. There aren't many people out there, men _or_ women that can emanate the raw sexual energy he does. Then he feels my eyes wandering over him, and glances shrewdly in my direction. And again, like last week, I reflexively jerk my head back and gaze off in some other random direction, cursing my stupidity as I play the shy schoolgirl act, all but screaming that I was staring at him.

And exactly like last week, he gives me this smile that has a meaning I can't quite make out. It's halfway between amusement and desire, but he just stands there for several seconds, leaving me confused. Last week, he'd just walked over with this barely discernable strut in his step, and eased up against me, asking if I wanted to dance. And what did I do? I seized up in shock. _The rumors must be true!_ I'd thought. _His loyalty to her is unquestionable, but if he's here, flirting back, Hell, dancing__ like _this_... It must be true..._

And so we started dancing, nothing too lascivious, not at that point, anyway. Then she came flying out of the shadows, grabbing him by the arm and giving me this evil eye. The look was clear, and it said, "Back the fuck off, bitch." Then she stared at him and gave him an even _more_ evil eye, and she drug him away with that "We have to talk!" speech!

I mean, granted, she and I used to hate each other, but since I came back to the so called good guys side, we'd become best friends._Well, all three of us had, really..._ Gah, I'm rambling to myself. But yeah, we're friends, _best_ friends, and here I was moving in on her fiancé, all because of a stupid rumor.

_God, what an idiot!_ I scream at myself. And I certainly felt like an idiot the entire night, the way she kept throwing looks at me, unreadable little looks, nothing overtly hostile, but ... The funny thing is that I'd never once failed to read her before that night. Yet there I was, at a loss for what those looks meant. Then she'd pull at his arm every time the three of us got within fifteen feet of each other, and it didn't matter if it was intentionally _or_ unintentionally. Talk about getting shut down. No, that wasn't getting shut down, that was getting roughed up and tossed out.

But it was almost worth it. _He _has_ gotten gorgeous over the years, and that smile of his isn't nearly as goofy as it used to be, it's actually kinda sexy... Wait, _kinda_ sexy?_ God _damn_ I feel like a moron for _thinking_ that. He's probably the sexiest thing in GJ, well, next to his girlfriend since they _are_ a kinda matched pair. So, sexiest couple, I guess. _If they really are together, that is... _I just wish she'd share… And then there's me of course, but I won't go there right now.

So today, I decide to go for gold. And despite my rational side struggling for survival, I axe it immediately by flipping my hair back, dipping my chin low and glancing at him coquettishly. I resist batting my eyelashes at him, mostly because I think it looks stupid, but only barely; after all, he has that effect on me. And now it's just exactly like last week, his smile widening as he walks over.

"How are you doing?" his caring words pierced through my little haze, dragging me fully back to the present.

I smile hesitantly at those soft hazel eyes brimming with concern, "Hey, I'm sorry 'bout what happened out there today, I..."

"Oh, it's all good, I mean, I was listening over the command frequency and it sounded to me like it's Du's fault for pulling rank and ordering you to fall back to his position and give him back up. Personally, I think Betty will see that you did your best under the circumstances. Hell, you did a great job out there, taking out those henchmen and that powered armor of his." He smiles sheepishly, realizing he's defending me without need, and that smile makes him even sexier somehow. Or maybe I've just got it that bad.

"Does, well..." I hedge a bit, glancing nervously at the medics. "Ummm... _She_ knows he ordered me back over the command circuit, right?"

"I dunno, she got knocked out when they brought that scaffold down on the command team..." He shakes his head, concerned. "I don't think she realizes what happened though."

"So..." I say leadingly, letting my tongue run along my upper lip as I draw the word out, "Does she also know why I've been flirting with you so much lately? Or was that jealousy trip real and not part of some plan like all the rumors say?" I try not to let any emotion other than playful flirting enter my tone, but I know I've failed when his smile softens, his beautiful hazel eyes glinting with mischief.

"She might, but then again, she might not," he says ironically, his smile becoming a touch devilish before he raises his eyebrows in mock confusion. "Kinda depends on what rumors are you referring to?"

"Don't play stupid, I've been meaning to ask you about that," I continue, rambling again. I don't know why, but he makes me feel like a teenager asking a boy out for the first time. And I've _never_ been like that, not even the first time I asked a guy out! I sigh in frustration before continuing, my voice taking an unintentional edge to it. "If you two are still together or not, I mean? It looks like it... But then, if she's seeing some woman from the university...?" I let the phrase drop off, not knowing exactly what to ask, and getting nervous as his smile grows somewhat.

"Yeah, well, that's the amusing par-..." He begins, only for her voice to be interrupted by an angry shout from across the hanger.

"What the _fuck_ was that about?" I turn my head to see the team leader stalking over to me, "We had everything under control, and you let Gemini go so you could come in all hero-like and help us out?" she almost screams at me. I glance back over at him and notice he's got a nervous, almost guilty expression on his face, then I glare back at her as she moves up to me, getting well into my personal space.

I can't help it, the way she did that just hit the wrong nerve at the wrong time. Ignoring the hands that are suddenly trying to separate us, I move that much closer to her. "Then maybe Du shouldn't have called for backup that we didn't have?" I scream back, leaning in closer to her face. I barely keep myself from glancing over at him, my face clouding with emotions. "Didn't anyone tell her about that?"

"You were supposed to igno-..." she begins, but I stop her in her tracks with a combat voice roar. I know I should be the one being calm, but...

"You shut up and listen for five fucking seconds, okay?" She steps back at the ferocity of my voice, but there's fire in her eyes as she rolls her fingers in a 'hurry-up' gesture, infuriating me further. "Du got on the command channel and ordered my team _and_ myself back to the main hangar where you guys got jumped when that goddamn scaffold fell on that pretty little head of yours!" She opens her mouth to make some other argument, but I push on, not letting her speak. "He pulled his rank in GJ, saying that since you were out cold, the mission was under his command, and that the mission was blown, therefore his orders superceded any you'd given before that point. He even gave the rule he was using down to the sub-paragraph!"

"And your orders came from the Director, dammit!" she screams back, and I know by the tone she's reaching, and that there's something else bugging her.

"Uh, huh, you don't think I pointed that out to him? He had a counter point, something about this being a covert field op that he had ultimate authority after _you_ once we left HQ? But that's beside the point; this isn't about the op at all, is it?" I ask harshly, my voice dropping to a deadly murmur. "This is about last week, right?"

"Yeah, right!" she belts at me, "This is about you, and how you let a known super villain get away 'cause of some so-called order! Which, I might add, is in none of the records!" she emphasized her last point with a jab of her finger into my chest in time with each word, "Then again, a former international thief would know all about covering her ass, wouldn't she? After all, no good thief is _ever_ reformed!" I know my face is shocked when she says that, and my head swims as if she had just slapped me.

"Babe, there's something you shoul-..." he begins, but she throws an angry glance at him. I turn to him as well and open my mouth to ask him to continue, but all I see is red. I froze; I honestly couldn't say anything at that moment because all of my admittedly hateful thoughts were concentrated on a certain woman standing right next to me. I'm about to start throwing those thoughts at her verbally, but I hear a clicking. I glance back to see a flash and feel my heart almost literally being torn out of my chest as she fires her service pistol at me.

"Wha-...?" I gasp as I look down at the growing red stain on my GJ uniform. My fingers instantly move to cover the mangled, powder burnt flesh around entry wound. I feel my legs going weak and I look up at her with despair in my eyes. "This isn't... How... It happened!" I croak out, falling to my knees.

"Well, I know what you're going to say, and figured it'd be easiest for both of us if I cut to the chase, right?" she asks with a cherubic grin, cuddling up to that still smiling fiancé of hers. "I mean, I already tore your heart out and threw it in your face then, so why not just blow it out the back of your chest instead?"

She giggles as I gape up at her, and then _he_ makes it worse. He shakes his head with mocking sympathy in his eyes and nuzzles her neck, whispering something to her. "Sure, how about on her bed? She won't be using it anymore..." He nods and laughs his sexy, loving laugh at her, the one he'd shared with me a few times over the last couple months. Then they walk off, elbows looped together and gazing lovingly at each other, my suffering already forgotten. I reach out as my vision fades, calling out his name...

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The woman woke up with a strangled cry, biting off the name she'd been calling out as if her life depended on it, her hand reaching out much like it had in her dream. She glances about her room, at the fine silk sheets on her bed that were now soaked with sweat, the finely crafted bedroom furniture, and the huge flatscreen HDTV along the wall adjacent to the foot of her bed. She shudders slightly, realizing the room is chilly, and flares up her glow just enough to warm her up. "What the fuck?" she grates, "Ok, get a grip, I _know_ she wasn't _that_ pissed at me... And he'd _never_ do that!"

Shea Go, better known as Shego, sat in her bed for several more minutes, taking slow, calming breaths and willing her heart to slow down. She'd just succeeded when her alarm blared its wake up call. She grumbled and slapped it off before dragging herself out of her bed. She stood on the plush carpeting of her bedroom, balling her feet and stretched until several joints popped, before finally speaking into the empty room, "I guess it's time to get ready for my volunteer work."

She smiled slightly as she gathered up her clothing and a bath towel, surprising herself as she realized she was looking forward to the day ahead of her. _Something's telling me it's going to actually end up being a good day today!_ She snorted a laugh at her uncharacteristic optimism, then sauntered into the master bathroom and started up her shower, brushing her teeth while it got up to her preferred temperature. She finally stepped in, sighing as the hot water washed over her sweaty skin. _Now if only I'd stop having these fucking dreams about Ron and his Princess..._

She ignored the tears that were being washed away by the shower's hot spray, trying to rationalize her feelings away and failing miserably._It was just a passing thing, anyway, I should have known better..._ Her own thoughts rang hollow to her, but she shoved them deep down within her, as she always had in the past. Like she had before the events surrounding Kim Possible's graduation... Before she went back to being a good guy... Before the teenage hero and her boyfriend had become two of the best friends she'd ever had... Before she'd let herself fall in love with the man that boy had become...

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**Authors' Notes**

Wow, what's going on? New penname? Who's this kgs-wy, isn't he just a beta-reader? Is this the next arch of the Human Element series? WTF is going on?!?

Heh, no, not continuation of prior fics, so don't get all worked up and worrying about that. We've just decided to make a new penname for fics we work on as co-authors from the beginning. Anyway, this is the first of those fics, conceptualized and generally ploted by kgs, a few ideas thrown in by NoobFish and writing and massaging by both of crazy bastiches.

As for the prologue, it seems that poor Shego's changed quite a bit since the events of Graduation. Working with GJ and regularly teaming up with Team Possible, considering both Ron and Kim two of her best friends? Yet, somehow, she managed work some issues up with them, enough to give her nightmares about it. Then again, strong emotions tend to do that, no? But the answers will come later, as the fic progresses.

This _shouldn't_ be too long of a fic, we're projecting it to weigh in at around five chapters, give or take, so it won't be taking away creative time from "The Human Element". 


	2. Bridging the Divide

**Happy Birthday, Shego!**

**Chapter One: Bridging the Divide**

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"Let's see..." Kim Possible wondered aloud as she looked over her shopping list. "That looks like just about everything." She sighed as she put the list back in her purse and hefted the bags dangling from her right arm to a more comfortable position. She looked across the crowded Middleton Mall and shook her head with a slight smile on her face. _It's good to be home for Christmas, though I really should have done my shopping before Christmas Eve..._ she thought brightly despite the exhaustion she felt seeping into her athletic frame.

Six hours of shopping in a busy mall during Christmas rush tended to wear out even the most gifted athletes, and the twenty-two year old hero was no exception. She laughed as she caught sight of a mother herding two children so they didn't run into anyone on their way to sit on Santa's lap, which was at the end of the food court. _Someday..._ she thought before having to dodge another of the young fireballs as he ran past her.

A delighted squeal brought her attention across the hall to see a pair of familiar faces from high school and the time she'd spent at Yamanouchi. Lofting his three year old son was Hirotaka, her one-time crush and occasional mission ally. The Japanese man was tickling his child with a delicate touch that belied the strength Kim knew he possessed. Standing next to him and beaming as if ready to burst was her one-time rival, Bonnie. She seemed to feel Kim's attention on her and glanced over, waving with a laugh as Hirotaka put an arm around her.

_That four years can make such a difference. A few years ago we'd have flipped each other off instead of waving..._ Kim mused as she waved back and continued on her way. She caught her reflection in a storefront and shifted her heavy coat aside to look herself over. Four years hadn't changed her overly much, or so people she hadn't seen in some time tended to say. She wasn't any taller than she had been, and was still lean and athletic; a bit more muscular than in high school, but most definitely still feminine.

Her face had matured, no longer bearing the rounded cuteness of her teen years, but the softly angled beauty she'd always envied in other women. Especially... _No, I better not go there, I still have to apologize for being... Well, for being a bitch for no good reason..._ She sighed, glancing at her bustline in the shop window, and though she still had obvious curves there, it was the only part of her she wished were more developed. _If only I'd have gotten Monique's rack..._ she contemplated wistfully as she finished her once over. _I guess it's a blessing, though... I can still get the cute li'l numbers at Victoria's Secret that those busty women can't!_

She smiled at her own thoughts, and changed her direction to the very same store she'd thought of. _Might as well get Ron's _other_ gift while I'm thinking about it._ She began to consider the best colors to go with her complexion and hair color when a familiar voice snapped out of her thoughts as if slapped across the face.

"Happy holidays, folks!" a familiar, but oddly jolly voice yelled out, and she zeroed in on it immediately. The woman the voice belonged to was currently dressed up as one of Santa's helpers, and was kneeling down to give a young girl a candy cane. The girl squealed in delight and ran back to her mother, and the helper's brilliant emerald eyes lit up like the gems they so resembled. She stood and stretched slightly, and the 'Santa's elf' outfit she wore managed to move with her curves in a very flattering manner, despite being cut the same as every other helper. She flipped her long, green tinted black hair over her shoulder and looked back towards Santa, waiting for the next child in line.

Kim swallowed slightly at the unintentional display, shaking her head slightly. _Guess she got her vacation..._ she thought, remembering the last time she'd heard anything about her former arch nemesis, and up until about six months earlier, close friend._ I thought she was supposed to be on missions for GJ._ She allowed a small, contemplative smile to grace her features as she watched on. "Not that I'm complaining." she muttered aloud as Shego bent down to give candy canes to a young set of twins. She sighed as another thought bounced around in her head, _I guess I'm glad she's back, but now I have to figure out how to go about saying..._

The voice of Santa's 'head elf' interrupted her thoughts, his voice piercing and gruff, but carrying a comfortable warmth with it. "Shea, go ahead and take the rest of the night off! You've been here for almost six hours now," the short, wizened old man said with a huge smile. "We'll get Sandy over there to take over for ya!"

"Thanks, Mack." she chuckled, taking her hat off as she walked into the small shack that Santa sat on top of, which also served as an employees break area. She walked out a couple moments later with a warm looking leather jacket over a turquoise sweater, as well as black jeans and ankle top hiking shoes. She was still stuffing the costume in the duffle bag and almost walked into a still stunned Kim. "Wha-...?" she began, only to be stunned into silence when she realized who she'd almost bumped into.

"Um, hi, Shego..." Kim said lamely when she finally found her voice, schooling her face into a neutral expression. "What're you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be in Europe somewhere?" She couldn't stop from wincing at the tone of her question. She wished weakly for a do-over but couldn't take it back so she let it hang as she waited for Shego to answer her.

Shego paused for several seconds, contemplating both the tone and Kim's body language. Feeling that perhaps this was as awkward to her as it was to Kim, she decided to relax a little. She finally replied to the younger woman, but was a little more snappish than she'd intended. "Well, Princess, if you must know, I used to do this all the time when I was in Team Go,"

"Really?" Kim asked, her expression one of mild shock.

Shego barked a laugh at the surprised look on Kim's face. "Hey, it helped me center myself after a year of dealing with the idiot older brothers of mine!" she glanced sidelong at Kim while walking towards a nearby coffee shop, her face neutral. "And if you've still got that overdone attitude of yours, you should probably try it; you could use the humility..."

"Oh, whatever, Shego," Kim responded, rolling her eyes as she fell in step beside Shego. _I was just asking, dammit, no need to get lippy about _my_ attitude!_ Kim mused angrily _It's not like I sounded bitchy _this_ time, so what's your game here, Shego?_ After a pause, Kim finally continued with an annoyed lilt to her speech, "And I've _so_ seen you around Team Go lately."

"Dr. D. and his plants that seem to think we'd make a good couple every time I'm around him, not to mention _other_ things that have happened this year, such as back in, oh, _June_ maybe...? Well, those make for a pretty damn good replacement for the idiots, Kimmie." Shego's voice grated softly.

Shego's emphasis on the month was not lost on Kim, who looked down almost guiltily for a moment. "Um, yeah, you got me there, Shego." Kim admitted grudgingly, shuddering at the thought of Drakken's plants creeping all over her with no apparent conscious control.

"Look, Princess," Shego continued, "I'm sure you believe in karma, right?" Kim nodded, her eyes narrowing at Shego suspiciously, "Yeah, let's just say I enjoyed this back then, and still do. And it's a way to work off that huge karmic debt I've racked up over the years... After all, helping GJ out's only gonna go so far, right?"

"Oh, yeah!" Kim snorted, falling easily into the old back and forth banter the two used on each other when they were adversaries, despite her best intentions not to. "The GJ thing I can believe... But you, former international thief and all-round bad girl, is doing this out of the kindness of your heart?" Kim shook her head slightly, her expression unreadable, and Shego cocked her head at the younger woman in an annoyed manner, her eyes narrowing slightly.

_Period much, Kimmie? Or was that nicey-nice attitude you gave me when you started helping out GJ and going on missions with my team just bullshit, and you only needed one mistake from me to capitalize on it?_ These thoughts quickly blew the small spark of frustrated annoyance Shego felt into a full grown bonfire within the green hued woman. Growling, Shego rounded on Kim, snapping at her with an almost accusatory tone in her voice, "Okay, ya got me, Princess! I'm actually casing the place, and my work with GJ and that friendship I had brewed up with you and Ron has _all_ been a front to get rid of my competition!" she turned from Kim and stalked towards the coffee shop, rolling her eyes when she was facing away from Kim.

"After the last few months, it wouldn't surprise me one bit if you had another change of heart!" Kim grumbled, her tone sharp but a touch anxious as well. "But, I dunno, I don't see you going to Middleton Mall to start any crime sprees, personally."

"And why wouldn't I? There's a _lot_ of money in this town, after all!" Shego answered in apparent seriousness. She stopped and started pointing out various stores within their line of sight. "Just in this mall, there's Zales' and Silk Luxuries right over there, Jared's and Victoria's Secret across the way, not to mention a Tag Hauer, a Club Banana Premier store and a Best Buy down that way..." she finished, pointing down Middleton Mall's north hallway.

"Shego..." Kim interrupted, closing her eyes and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Aren't you reformed? And if you're _not_ reformed, why would you tell me your plans?"

_Oho, hit a sore spot, did I?_ Shego thought with glee. _Let's see if that's what this has all been about then, huh?_ She snorted a laugh through her nose and shrugged expansively. "What good thief is _ever_ reformed, Pumpkin?" Shego asked glibly, throwing something Kim had said six months earlier back in the younger woman's face. She paused just to the right of the coffee shop entrance, turning back to Kim with a derisive smirk.

Shego's attitude earned her another sour look from the red-head, forcing another short chuckle out of the former thief before Kim sighed. "Uh, huh, well... I was hoping that's not the case." Kim groused lightly, looking at the ground almost guiltily as she came to a stop in front of Shego. She finally looked up with an almost apologetic look on her face, "Look, Shego, I..." she paused, seeming to look for the right words to say.

_Another sore spot? Princess, you're just leaving yourself all _kinds_ of open!_ Shego thought with no small amount of delight. _Payback's a bitch..._ "As to why I'm telling you? It's because I know you wouldn't believe me, and come Christmas morning, when the mall is robbed, and you see it in the morning paper and realize that I was telling the truth all along..." Her smirk had widened into a grin now, her eyes dancing in delight. "It'll be worth the look on your face."

"Ok, enough," Kim growled, her attitude changing in an instant as she almost glared at the smiling, green hued woman in front of her. _Okay, gotta amp this down, she's gone from angry to _way_ too happy, I don't want to get in _another_ fight with her._ Kim took a deep breath and blew it out, puffing her cheeks before continuing, "Will you be at least halfway seriou-...?

"And who say's I'm not?" Shego chuckled, thinking she'd pushed a little too far but enjoying making Kim uncomfortable too much to stop. _Not gonna let ya off that easily, Princess, you said some things that were way out of line this last June!_ "If you think I'm telling the truth, you'll be patrolling the mall the whole night! Sitting here all alone, just waiting for me to show up, and then that'll mean you'll miss out on the lovely Christmas dinner your mom always cooks, as well as missing out on opening your presents! I won't even mention the missed opportunity of cuddling with that cute li'l fiancé of yours, leaving him all lonely..." Shego trailed off with a suggestive smirk, placing her hands on her hips and leaning slightly towards the younger woman.

"You... Evil bitch! Don't even go there right now!" Kim ordered sharply, her eyes hardening. Her left eye started to twitch slightly as she continued in a slightly more controlled voice, "If you're telling the truth, that's just mean spirited." She paused and cocked her head to the side, making a conscious attempt to stop her eye from twitching, "And if you're not, even being legitimate you're _still_ giving me all sorts of problems!" Kim threw her hands up and shook her head, half turning to leave the older woman standing by the coffee shop.

Shego sighed and reached out, lightly grasping Kim on the shoulder in a surprisingly companionable manner. _Ok, time to ease off, it'd probably be best to talk about things anyway, instead of argue._ "Okay, okay, Princess!" she laughed lightly, "_You_ wear one of those things and be _that_ nice for six hours straight and see if _you_ can avoid naughty thoughts and general bitchiness! Though as uptight as you are right now, it wouldn't surprise me if you hadn't already done it... That or you need to get laid ..." Shego's smile slipped into a devilish smirk before asking, "Ronnie holding out on his princess for Christmas because of that jealous little display back in June?"

Kim sighed and shook her head. "Do you think you could please stop this? I mean, the joking about stealing the mall blind it is unsettling enough as it is," Kim pled, grimacing at how petulant she sounded. She closed her eyes and took another breath, "And yes, I know you're joking. As for June, I..."

"Go on...?" Shego asked leadingly as Kim paused, the younger woman's face a mishmash of emotions, flowing too quickly to read.

"Hell, Shego, I know I was kind of a bitch, but you _were_ hitting on my fiancé after a pretty bad sitch, you know?" she smiled softly at this point, trying to take the sting out of her words. "I know I shouldn't have unloaded on you that day for something that wasn't exactly your fault. But in my defense, if you'd have waited ten minutes for me to find out what really happened, and explain my anger, well..." Kim sighed, shrugging helplessly. "We wouldn't exactly be stuck like this, now, I don't think. So, for what it's worth, I'm sorry if my attitude pissed you off, then or now." Kim reached out hesitantly, a hopeful smile on her face. "Friends still? Or again...?" Shego raised an eyebrow and reached out, clasping the younger woman's hand lightly.

"Only if you promise not to go off on my like that again; at least not without asking me about it first, please?" Shego asked, earning a relieved nod from Kim. Shego held Kim's hand for a moment longer before she let it slip free. "And I'm sorry too; we were both being bitchy for no good reason. I won't apologize for hitting on Ron, though! After all, I'm still single, Princess, and that man can not only fight, but cook and clean up after himself!" Shego exclaimed, "You can't really blame me for believing some really juicy and seemingly reliable rumors, can you?"

Kim laughed lightly and shook her head, "Not really. But that aside, since you got a full pardon four years ago, you can go out looking all you want to!" Shego smirked and glanced around as Kim paused, not seeming to pay much attention to Kim's little speech. "So why continue hitting on Ron when you found out that he and I were engaged? What more could you wan-...?"

Shego's malicious grin stopped the hero's words half formed. Shego pointed up, and the young hero followed the proffered finger and noticed she was standing right under mistletoe. _Oh,_really_ now?_ Kim thought, but let a concerned expression come to her face. "Err... Ummm, Shego?"

"Yup," Shego exclaimed, "Better pucker up Princess, you know you want to."

"Ha, ha, Shego." Kim muttered drolly, before her eyes narrowed slightly, a wicked grin replacing her look of concern. "I knew you swing that way, I just didn't know you swung _my_ way!"

Shego was taken aback briefly by Kim's grin and comment, then matched it with one of her own. "Dont' forget, Princess, I'm a _bad_ girl..." She leaned in towards Kim, her lips slightly parted and her eyes drooping lazily, in an attempt to catch the younger woman off guard.

Kim, much to Shego's surprise, didn't back off, causing her to hesitate in her movement. "What's wrong, Shego?" Kim asked, walking into the coffee shop, letting a little extra sway enter her stride. "Is the bad girl nervous?" Kim continued, her tone dropping into a surprisingly seductive purr. _Ball's back _my_ side of the court, Shego; now to keep it there!_

_Did she just start swishing her hips at me?_ Shego asked herself in surprise, before shaking her head slightly. "Whatever, Princess, I'm just not interested in giving you the satisfaction!" she finished with a roll of her eyes. _What the Hell? Was that a bullshit rumor, or _is_ she a lesbian nympho?_

"Hmmm, is that what you said when you had that little fling with Alexis down in supply?" Kim laughed as Shego walked in after her, a deep blush spreading across the older woman's face. "Anyway, you mentioned Victoria's I have to go get something to be more comfortable in later. Care to join me for some shopping, maybe a few drinks at the Starlight Cathedral since you're off and it's the official grand opening tonight?"

"_Hell_ yeah to the shopping, I need to get a few things there before hitting the Starlight." Shego exclaimed with a smile. "But... Wait one second, Possible! One, how the Hell did _you_ know I was going there, and two, how did you plan on getting in?" she continued as they approached the counter. "I got my own invitation by knowing a couple of the co-owners and helping them with security, but..."

"Well, I _am_ a world renowned hero living right here in Middleton, y'know." Kim said with an innocent smile. "And I know a couple of the co-owners myself, so it's all good. And I just don't see someone like you missing the grand opening of a club like that, or am I wrong?"

The two women chuckled, realizing the truth of Kim's statements. They waited in line for several minutes and ordered their respective drinks, each grimacing at the other's order. "I don't understand how you could ruin perfectly good coffee with frothed milk and caramel flavoring, Princess." Shego muttered as she stirred the ice cubes in her four shot espresso.

"Likewise," Kim said with a giggle, "You and Ron, I can't understand how you can drink that paint thinner shit. And iced?" Kim made a show of shuddering at the thought.

"Leave my chilled paint thinner alone!" Shego groused good-naturedly, slamming her iced espresso in one gulp. She then stared at Kim with an honestly curious expression, "And cursing, Princess? I haven't heard you cussing this openly on GJ ops, what gives?"

Kim shook her head and rolled her eyes, looking skyward and asking "Why is it so hard for people to believe that I just held my tongue out of respect when I was living in my parent's house?"

Shego laughed at the display. "Not that hard to believe, Princess, but I always thought you did it 'cause you were a goody-goody."

Kim fell silent and took a few contemplative sips of her drink, watching shoppers go by outside the window. A smile came to Shego's face as the older woman watched the red-head rather closely. She was about to ask something she noticed about Kim's gaze when Kim suddenly responded to Shego's statement, "Only in part, Shego... You have no idea how many times I just wanted to let loose on Dr. D. before I moved out of my parent's place."

"Probably about as many times as I _did_ unload on him!" Shego laughed, fingering her empty coffee cup while she reminisced. "And by the time you'd moved out of your parent's place, you didn't have to deal with Dr. D. and I, didja?" Kim nodded and they shared a laugh much needed laugh.

After a moment of silent contemplation between the two women, Kim glanced over at Shego. "There any ice in there?" Kim asked unexpectedly, pointing at Shego's cup. Shego nodded in confusion and Kim reached over, pulling the cup out of Shego's now lax fingers. She poured the remaining ice from Shego's drink in hers, stirring it slightly before smiling over at the green hued woman. "I may not like it all that much, but I _will_ agree that these drink faster when cool," she said as she slammed her drink in a few hearty gulps, straining the ice cubes with her teeth and lips. "And since we have some shopping to get to, the longer we sit, the less likely we'll get what we want!"

"Um, Princess..." Shego said with a lascivious grin, pointing at her own lip for emphasis, "You might want to get rid of that, you never know what people will think it is, y'know?"

Kim matched her grin and made a small show out of licking away the offending foam and whipped cream with an apparently very nimble tongue. Shego could only stare for the several seconds it took for Kim to lick the sticky foam off. _What the _fuck_, Princess?_ Shego thought in shock, before finally breathing out, "A goody-goody one year, vying for porn star the next?" Her voice showed an attempt at sarcasm, but the subtle catch in her throat made the attempt fall short.

"Nah, I just like teasing. You should've see Ron's reaction the first time I did that!" Kim said with a wink and a huge grin.

_Yeah, I'm sure it was priceless,_ Shego thought, barely biting the remark back. "Heh, yeah, well... Shopping?" she said instead, a small nervous pit forming in her stomach. _Just what's your game here, Princess?_ Shego wondered, unconsciously echoing Kim's earlier thoughts.

"Mmmmhmmm, sounds good to me," Kim answered with an almost sultry moan, before giggling lightly at how flustered her antics were making Shego._Turnabout's fair play, Mint..._ Kim thought with amusement, her eyes dancing in delight at the thought of unleashing that nickname on Shego.

The next two hours went by in a blur for the ladies, most of the time spent in Silk Luxuries and Victoria's Secret, trying on and comparing notes about various lingerie they had picked out. Kim, despite her implied hurry earlier was content to spend the time helping Shego find something that fit her larger bustline while retaining the cute quality they both seemed to like.

In all actuality, Kim could have cared less where they were shopping, or what they were shopping for. She was merely enjoying spending time with someone she'd become friends with, but had pushed away. _Story of my life, but at least everything seems okay. Now if this week ends on a high note, well..._ Kim smirked, and finally satisfied with their choices, she glanced at her wrist Kimmunicator, making a show of panicking, "Shit! Shego, if we want these for our visit to the Starlight, we'd better get going!"

Shego glanced at the time as well, nodding in agreement. "I know a place that'll do an hour dry clean for me, but you'll owe me a few drinks when we get to the Starlight!" Shego said with a grin.

"No problem!" Kim agreed, paying for her new lingerie and waiting outside the store for Shego. "And I'll owe ya double, since I'll need to get my new dress cleaned too." She grimaced as Shego caught up to her. "And... I really hate to ask this, but since my parents live most of the way across town, you wouldn't mind me catching a shower at your place, would ya?" To make sure that Shego said yes, Kim coyly dropped her shoulders, batted her eyelashes twice, and unleashed the full force of her puppy dog pout.

Shego's jaw tried to race her shopping bags to the floor when she saw the expression, which left her speechless. When she finally recovered her faculties, she laughed at having been so easily caught by what was arguably Kim's most potent weapon before nodding at the younger woman. "Ok, no problem, Princess, just tone that look down, kay?" Shego averted her eyes as Kim kept the pout going for a few extra seconds, a blush seeped across her cheeks and nose.

"Okay!" Kim yelped happily, thoroughly pleased with Shego's reaction. "Oh, shit, I'll be right out, um, where'd you park? Ron dropped me off here, and I have to get one more thing for him, and then I have to let him know I'll be heading with you."

"Okay," Shego said amiably, a low intensity plasma burst flaring on her free hand briefly, "And we won't need to worry about a designated driver, I can burn excess alcohol off anytime I want. I'll just meet you at the food court entrance, Princess." Shego said as she walked past Kim to go find her car.

When Shego pulled up at the main entrance, Kim stood there with a devious smile on her face, twirling a little black tote bag she now carried in her hand in addition to her purchases. As she got into the front passenger seat, she made no indication of what she bought, and Shego just left it alone. The trip to the dry cleaners was quick, and after a few moments of explaining their needs and receiving guarantees that their clothes will be ready within the hour, the two women walked to a close by Quiznos. They wanted to grab a quick bite to eat, not wanting to start a night of partying on an empty stomach.

While eating, they caught up on each other's activities over the last six months, or at least what they could talk about publicly, before delving further back into memories neither had talked about to each other very much.

"So_that's_ why your mom calls you Bubble-butt?" Shego asked wonderingly, her gaze a mix of surprise and comprehension.

Kim laughed at Shego's incredulous expression, pointing a finger at her mock threateningly, "And don't you _dare_ tell anyone, Ron doesn't even know that! But yeah, so now you know why I was so embarrassed when my mom told your Miss Go persona the nickname..."

"I can see why you wanted to keep it quiet, I mean... Passing gas while in a tub at eighteen months would be hell to have hanging over you in high school, I guess..." Shego smiled wickedly at Kim's strangled, embarrassed growl before continuing. "So what do I owe the honor, Princess?" Shego said leadingly, her eyes drooping suggestively as she asked.

"I have my reasons." Kim said simply, "Besides, now that I've told you that, you can tell me something I've been dying to know, if it's not too much to ask, of course?" She waited for Shego to nod her assent to ask, and leaned forward for a little more privacy. In a hushed tone, she asked, "Why did you really quit Team Go? Ron and I went out to a party at the university not too long ago and ran into the twins, and when I asked, they'd only say that it wasn't exactly what Hego said it was, so..."

Shego looked down at her hands as she clasped on the tabletop. "Tell ya what, Princess," she said after several seconds, "I'll tell you when you get those drinks in me... It's both embarrassing and, well... A bit more personal than what you told me..."

Kim's eyebrows shot up at this, her mind already working on what it could've been. _More personal?_ She asked herself, then thought about the rare bits and pieces of home life Shego had told her about since they'd first known each other. Those little tidbits of information, plus her observations of Shego's recent behavior gave her something of an idea, but she wasn't about to make any serious guesses. _She'll tell me when she's ready..._ Kim concluded. They sat silently for a few more moments as they finished their meals, before she finally looked at her watch. _Almost time to go get the clothes._ "Ready?" she asked simply, to which Shego nodded and stood, stretching before heading towards the door.

Kim followed her, and they were soon on their way to Shego's apartment, freshly laundered clothes in hand. They pulled up and Kim was surprised at the location. Granted, the apartment building looked good, with clean and relatively new siding, but it didn't look like the luxury house or apartment complex Kim half expected the former villainess to reside in. "Not living in the lap of luxury, Shego?" Kim asked. Shego merely kept quiet, humming lightly to herself with a knowing smile gracing her features. "I mean, c'mon, I know GJ pays you better than this!" Kim's commentary continued in this vein until Shego opened the door to her apartment.

Kim stood at the doorway and her jaw dropped as if to hit the floor. The room looked nothing like what she expected, even from Shego. There was an entertainment system that had to have cost several thousand dollars in the front room, which featured expensive leather furniture in a soft burgundy color. The floors were covered with a thick, comfortable looking plush carpet and the walls were painted in a soothing, off white color.

There were artworks arrayed along the walls that ranged from renaissance era reproductions to original modern paintings and even a few sculptures. Kim glanced over to see that the dining room was cozy and well appointed, with a six place table and a corner bar hutch that was quite well stocked. "Ok, color me impressed, but... How did you get this all in an apartment like this? Aren't there tenants or somth-...?"

"Princess, to answer an earlier question: I know _exactly_ how good GJ pays... That's why I _own_ this apartment building!" Shego said with a laugh, "And I had all of the units are set up like this." She walked towards her bedroom with a seductive swagger, much like Kim's at the coffee shop. She glanced back as she entered the master bedroom and noticed that Kim looked a bit flushed. _Either there's something that a certain blonde fiancé of her's didn't tell me about... _she pondered,_ Or I should have stayed for the debriefing instead of going to Norway with the surveillance team back in June..._ Opening her mouth, she coughed lightly to get Kim's attention, "The other bathroom's at the end of this hall on the right, Pumpkin. I'll see you shortly."

"Right," Kim replied simply, and with that, Shego closed the door to her bedroom, laughing softly at Kim's apparent flustered state. She laid her clothing across her queen size bed and went to get her shower started. As she stripped out of her day clothes, she contemplated the last four years of her life with a bittersweet smile. She'd long since gone back on her promise to quit being one of the 'good guys' forever, but it didn't bother her too much. Global Justice paid her more than Drakken anyway. And while she missed the thrill of stealing something from someone despite whatever security they may have, she relished the adrenaline rush of the combat she often found herself in.

She sighed as she stepped into the scalding hot shower, sighing happily as the water blasted her. As she began to lather soap over her body, her mind wandered back to her earlier thoughts. _God, I've gotten weak willed,_ she thought, shaking her head to get more water at the roots of her hair.

Four years ago, she'd have started a knock down drag out fight with Kim for the back and forth banter at the mall. Granted, she was now a generally law abiding citizen, but the adrenaline high of fighting Kim was more intense than with henchmen or the like. _Oh, what the hell, admit it,_ she admitted to herself, _I miss tussling with Princess just 'cause it was fun..._

And that made it all worse, she realized as she sprayed the soap off of her body. She had seen a lot of Team Possible over the years since the Lowardian's attempted invasion. At first they were antagonistic to each other, but soon became almost natural; they had so much in common and they had a sort of mutual respect for each other despite being on different sides of the law. _Sorta like when I was Miss Go, and I had to sleep at her parent's place... And we ended up sharing _way_ too much information. _Team Possible and Shego had seen each other even more once Kim had become a part time GJ agent, which had started to cause problems. At least from Shego's point of view.

With a snort of laughter at her last thought, she started to massage shampoo into her beautiful hair, making sure that every inch was thoroughly lathered up. She was proud of her hair; it was her hair that got a lot of guys and not a few women interested in her in the first place. The way she'd seductively flip it over her shoulder and gaze coyly at her target was apparently irresistible. It had never failed her, ever, even when she tried it on Kim's fiancé, Ron Stoppable. _Dammit, why does it always come back to him, huh?_

She sighed again as she thought back to when she first found him attractive. It was a simple day, not too long after the two had decided to drop the vicious rivalry and became friends. She was out shopping with Kim, as impossible as that sounds, and then there he was, waving over to them from the other side of the mall.

The truth was, Shego's first impression had Kim ditching the sidekick for some new hottie, especially seeing that Ron had gone to Japan for some top-secret mission two months earlier. _And of course I was going to start bitching her out about jumping to the next available man... Christ, does stupidity flow in my veins around those two?_ Kim had easily derailed Shego's thoughts then and gave a happy shout before grabbing Shego's arm and dragging her over to Ron. As they had walked to meet him, though, Ron's pants had dropped to his ankles.

The antic was an obvious prat-fall to earn a few laughs, made more obvious by the fact that he had regular shorts on underneath his cargo pants. But Shego's jaw had nevertheless tried its best to slam into the ground. His latest growth spurt had him basically standing eye to eye with her, and though he still had that goofy smile on his lips, his t-shirt was plastered to his body as if painted on. And it showed off his musculature quite well.

He didn't have the overdone kind of physique that beach jocks have, the kind that comes from years of useless weight-lifting or steroid usage. No, his was the kind of physique that only comes from actually doing some physical activity, running, fighting freaks and saving the world. Just a lithe body that's perfectly toned and well-sculpted, looking naturally sexy and very, very alluring.

In that instant, Shego had realized she envied Kim, that she wanted to be the one that wrapped her arms around that hard torso, nuzzling herself close to that solid, well formed chest, feeling those strong arms wrapping around her. She almost thought of muscling in onto Kimmie's territory, wrapping her arms around him to give him an overly-friendly welcome-back-home hug, but the way Kim was hanging onto those arms…

Shego found her hands wandering over the erogenous zones of her body as she imagined that very same man and the things she'd like to do with him. She stopped herself when she remembered that his fiancée was just down the hall, so she reached over to the faucet and turned the hot water off.

Almost instantly she was blasted with icy cold water; after all, she didn't want an embarrassing repeat of what happened when she was giddily infatuated with Ron and had pulled out all her charms. _He responded!_ She chided herself. _What were you suppose to think? He definitely caught on to your flirting, both the words _and_ gesture. Hell, he'd flirted back! He _was_interested in you, at least until Kimmie stepped back in and shut you down!_

It had torn apart her pride to lie about her feelings and say she was only playing to get under Kim's skin. She'd then hurriedly excused herself, cutting her evening short and gone back to her apartment to sob her eyes out for a good half an hour. _I still wish I knew what the look on her face had been all about. I've_always_ been able to read her, except for that day..._ Strangely, that had made the feeling of having something she could never have dangled in front of her even stronger, and she really felt weak, pathetic and miserable.

Not only was any shot at Ron shut down, but she had also inadvertently betrayed one of her few true friends, Kim. Her own emotional turmoil had affected her work, and it finally came to a head a week later, during an assault mission against Gemini in the United States. While the mission did not suffer any casualties beyond Kim being knocked out by a scaffold, it was a momentary lapse of attention on Shego's part that let Gemini slip away.

Granted it wasn't entirely her fault, as Will Du had called her team in for backup via the command channel, but she could have fought his orders, even after he recited regulation protocol for taking overall mission command. But she'd been worried, about both Ron and Kim, so she'd gone back, and while her attention was focused on the henchmen, Gemini had slipped away.

Shego had figured it best then and there to resolve her inner conflict, and she sought to confront Ron and find out whether he was just flirting with her to flirt, or if there'd been more. It bothered her quite a bit, and though deep in her heart, she knew that she and Ron would never be together as long as Kim was around, she just felt that she needed to know, that she needed closure.

It had started out as a comfortable, amiable face-to-face chat with Ron, where she'd even gone so far as to ask if the rumors she'd heard were true. Ron had been about to answer her when Kim became involved in the conversation. Things had quickly degraded into one ugly bitchfest when Kim tore into Shego, first about the mission, and then about Shego's accusations that Kim's anger had nothing to do with the mission. Shego shuddered as she recalled the insults she'd thrown at Kim after that. She hadn't meant most of them, but still, she knew she couldn't take those words back ever again.

Before anything could be settled, she found herself volunteering for a surveillance mission on Gemini in Norway. The op had lasted for almost six months, and was of course marked 'need to know'. Which meant that even if they'd asked, Dr. Director couldn't have told Ron and Kim about it. It also brought her no closer to finding out what Ron's feelings were towards her. _At least Kimmie seems to be over it, but..._

"I was still being a bitch." She concluded as she slid into her clothing. The lingerie went on first, feeling almost like a second skin. Then came the dress; it was a form fitting, knee length teal blue dress with wide turquoise accents along the seams, but not so tight that niceties such as the lingerie she wore would show through. She also liked the color, which she felt complemented her skin tone nicely. _Not to mention will look killer in the club!_

She reached back and made sure it was settled correctly then picked out a simple, but flattering pair of high heeled shoes, before walking out of her bedroom. She was taken aback when she saw Kim standing only a few feet from her bedroom entrance, a tight black dress hugging her athletic frame as if it were tailor made for her. It was mid-thigh silk dress that was tight, but not overly so, and revealed a tasteful amount of cleavage, all without looking tacky or whorish. "Shego?" Kim called out as she heard Shego's sharp intake of breath.

_Damn, when did she learn how to look sexy?_ Shego thought as she slowly let her breath out. Then she realized the younger woman trying to reach the zipper along the back, and having little success doing so. She also noticed the soft lavender of Kim's lingerie peaking through the open zipper, and had to stop her self from making a lewd comment about it. "What the hell, Princess? Not as flexible as we used to be?" Shego asked as walked up, chuckling as she tried to get those dirty thoughts out of her mind.

"You could help, y'know!" Kim snapped, earning a louder chuckle from Shego. Then she felt Shego's hands lifting the zipper towards the nape of her neck and smiled over her shoulder at the older woman. "Thanks." She said simply, suddenly turning and giving the older woman a slightly more than friendly peck on the cheek.

Shego tried not to blush, but she felt a mild heat wash across her face at the action. "Heh, no problem," she replied as if nothing had happened, "And good color choice for the lingerie... Lavender looks_really_ good on you."

Kim smiled coyly, walked over to where her purse was and bundled up in a winter jacket in case it got colder out. "Thanks, but compliments can wait, we have to get going!" she said glibly, turning towards Shego's door.

Shego nodded and grabbed her own purse, not bothering with a coat, and locked the door behind her as she followed Kim. They hurried to Shego's car and got in, heading out of town and towards the Middleton Observatory. "I still can't believe that this place is up near the observatory." Shego remarked, shaking her head lightly.

"Heh, that's 'cause someone owed a huge favor to one of the co-owners." Kim quipped knowingly, and the duo fell into a companionable silence. Kim watched the lights of Middleton fade as they traveled further up the foothills and into the mountains proper, intentionally ignoring the occasional looks Shego was giving her. _Just keep looking, Mint!_ She thought deviously, allowing a small smile to cross her features. _The night's only beginning..._

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**Authors' Notes**

First of all, notice that it is Authors' notes and not Author's notes. I try my best not to make grammatical errors, and hence it's intentional in denoting that there are multiple authors for this fic. Cough I'm sidetracking and kgs-wy might bitchslap me if I do too much of it, but I digress again.

So... Now the story actually starts, the first chapter was merely a teaser prologue as to what happened. I'm kinda thinking how grown up Kim has become and in many ways, she has become more like Shego. More adult, more seductive, more teasing and more… Dare I use the word? Naughty? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Kim turned out like this when she hit 22, after all, she is a bombshell at 16… Bad thoughts, bad thoughts… the similarities between them are a little more pronounced here, in their similar tastes in clothes and guys. Plus of course their love for trying to shut the other down with smart-talking, which I definitely believe is a remnant of their previous fights, and continuing in that spirit of things. But somehow to me, it seems that Kim's more of messing with Shego's mind, maybe it's to do with payback for all those times Shego's been taunting her... And, hey, since this story _did_ follow the series and continues after Season 4, Kim's probably enjoying some of it... Though there's obviously some undercurrent there that both of them are dancing around with each other.

But then again, the KiGo overtures are right there and damn well not too subtle, and I wonder what Kim has planned for Shego.


	3. Divulgence, part I

**Happy Birthday, Shego!**

**Chapter Two: Divulgence, part I  
**

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As the club came into sight, Shego was struck again by how innocuous it looked. It sat with its faces pointing to the four directions, its seeming squat plainness unassuming and bland as they came around the bend. Its grey and tan sheet metal siding presented the look of a warehouse with Christmas lights twinkling unseen at its front. The only thing ruining that illusion was the fact that it was a little over six stories tall, and the dozens of cars that were lined up in the parking lot.

As they rounded the bend of the road that led to the building, however, any remaining misconceptions were shattered. Swirling neon lights shaped like galaxies and planets graced the front, and fiber optic stars shone brightly from the black painted areas in between. Across the front the name "Starlight Cathedral" flashed brightly across a huge color LED display. Occasionally guest DJ names and their show times would flash on in a quick, spaceship themed animation, or video from inside the club itself would be displayed, floating lazily across the screen inside an animated asteroid.

With tonight being the grand opening of the club, patrons were allowed in by invitation only, so there was no line up front to contend with. Shego pulled up into an empty parking spot and the two women got out, before briskly heading up to the front door. "Is Ron here already?" Shego asked, trying to seem nonchalant as possible, trying to quash her over-enthusiastic desire to meet him.

Kim craned her neck and briefly cast her eyes over the vast parking lot. Seeing her fiancé's car not too far from Shego's she nodded in affirmation and tilted her head towards the doors. "Shall we?" she asked with a wide grin of anticipation, earning a smirk from Shego.

As they walked up to the darkly tinted doors, a blond hulking block of a man threw the doors open from the inside, smiling when he recognized Kim. "Hey, you!" he called out to her in a loud, booming voice.

Kim ran up to him and gave him a firm hug. "Brick, how're you, and what the hell are you doing here?" Kim asked excitedly as she stepped back and fished her invitation out of her purse.

"Eh, football got boring, and I was part-timing as a bouncer over at the bars 'n' clubs around Ohio State, so I decided to go do that full time. I kinda got a name for myself, and, well..." He shrugged his arms expansively as he trailed off.

"Wow, and here I thought you'd rather chase the big bucks!" Kim exclaimed with a wide smile, elbowing the large man in the abdomen.

He snorted and then looked over Kim's invite, followed by Shego's, inspecting them with a surprisingly keen eye. "Heh, I know I shouldn't worry about it with your relationship to the owners and all, but I do have to keep up appearances. Sorry about that."

"It's no big," Kim replied with a cool smile. "I'll let them know you're working hard, kay?"

With a gracious smile and a satisfied grunt, he opened the door further and waved an arm in a gentlemanly fashion. "Enjoy, ladies!"

With a quick smile and a word of thanks, the two ladies walked right in, anticipation making them feel somewhat giddy. Shego had only been to the place during the day when most of the electrical wiring was being done, and she never had seen the club in its full glory. She didn't quite know what to expect, and truth be told she was quite surprised by the sight.

The club was every bit as large inside as out. Looking around, both women let out a surprised whistle at the expanse before them. There were clearly several hundred people here, but the club seemed almost empty. The reason the owners had used the name Starlight Cathedral was clearly visible when they first looked about. The supports for the upper floors bore a mix of the internal structure of the Lorwardian spaceships and a technologically oriented Gothic church.

Each of the floors was subdivided, the dance floors taking up a majority of the space. Ringing each of the dance floors were clusters of tables, with five and six tables circled around a support post for the floor above. Then around the tables there were walking spaces, and finally two bars per floor, in the northeast and southwest corners, or northwest and southeast, alternating between the floors.

The dance floors above the first floor were the next shocking sight. The floors above the ground floor were offset from each other, with metal handrails styled in the tradition of Gothic architecture. The naked I-beams supporting each upper floor were capped with gargoyles of a decidedly techno-organic and alien fashion. The dance floors proper were made up of centimeter and a half thick slabs of an almost unbreakable, perfectly clear acrylic. The acrylic was an outgrowth of the Lorwardian invasion, which had resulted in several technologies being reverse engineered by the Earth's best minds. The acrylic used in the floors had been among the first to trickle down from 'government only' status to the public domain.

"I think offering to figure out how to synthesize that stuff was Dr. D's best decision ever." Shego commented, and Kim agreed. Looking up, the view was interesting, to say the least.

Ignoring the dancers on the upper floors, the night sky itself could be seen clearly, shimmering and full of stars. Directly below the clear ceiling, ringing the roof above the fifth floor, hung twenty-four VIP rooms. Their supports were styled more like the structure of the Lorwardian spaceship than the rest of the building, and the sides facing the dance floor were made of a one-way version of the acrylic used in the dance floors.

_Those rooms need some proper breaking-in, I'm sure!_ Kim thought with a mischievous smirk, casting a sidelong glance at a certain retired professional thief.

The dance floors themselves had an almost typical club style light show setup, with rotating lights and strobes flashing about chaotically, and the occasional laser flashing across to the upper walls of each floor. However the similarities soon stopped there. The sheer number of lights used in the Starlight Cathedral was more than just staggering; the radial projection of the light in every conceivable direction gave the patrons the indescribable feeling of dancing in the heart of a nebula or galaxy, with the rotating lights being the stars. To add to the ambiance, smoke machines simulated the huge nebulous gas clouds of space, setting a frenetic, almost hyperactive mood and enhanced the feeling of dancing among the heavens instead of a club.

Kim was enjoying the view quite intently, unconsciously swaying to the pulsing trance electronica blaring from the speakers, when Shego nudged her shoulder. Jumping slightly, Kim turned, and Shego half-shouted to her over the deafening music, "I think your loverboy's over here, Kimmie!" Kim looked at where Shego was gesturing and nodded happily as she saw Ron's blond head bobbing to the music. She grabbed Shego by the hand and started to drag the older woman in the direction of her fiancé.

However Shego stood firm, stopping Kim's exuberant lunge to her boyfriend with an audible grunt. "Nuh, uh, Princess. You still owe me some drinks!"

Kim pouted, but Shego persisted, and rattled off her drink requests to the younger woman before turning towards the table Ron was sitting at.

"Hey, Dufus, did ya have to wait long?" Shego drawled with a saucy smile as she strutted up to the blond, taking a seductive pose by cocking her right hip to the side and settling her hand on her hip.

"Hey!" Ron greeted with a smile, his eyes shining happily, "Long time no see! What's been up with that, huh?" he said as he got up and rounded the table, giving Shego a firm hug before they sat down across from each other.

"Surveillance of Gemini over in Norway. All hush-hush if you asked Betts and she didn't say anything about it," she said with a chuckle, waving it off. "That's it for shop talk tonight, but I'm wondering something... Kimmie seems... Happily aggressive and, well... Off tonight... You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?" Shego's voice and face held a sweet, innocent charm as she asked.

Ron gulped nervously, remembering that tone from Shego's days as Miss Go. "Well, um... Are you two back on good terms?" he asked as quietly as he could.

Shego nodded hesitantly, and he mimicked her response in a similarly hesitant manner. "Good... Well, that's probably a hefty part of it. Anything else, though, I think it'd be a good idea to talk to_her_ about, and most likely later..." He gestured with his chin behind Shego, who turned and saw a very angry looking Kim weaving through the crowd.

"I can't believe his nerve!" Kim groused, her face matching the color of her hair. "Saying that he didn't think I was old enough to be here, let alone order drinks!"

Shego laughed heartily at this, earning a scathing glare from Kim. She stopped laughing after a moment and managed to cough out "Just wait 'til you're twenty-nine, Pumpkin, then you'll love hearing that!"

Kim glared angrily at the older woman, before her lips twitched and curled into a large smile and she broke out into an equally hearty laugh, shaking her head. "God, I feel old enough at twenty-two." she complained, earning another laugh from Shego.

The trio's conversation quickly fell into a reminiscent tenor, telling old stories, mostly covering the years that they'd known each other. The six-month gap in their friendship seemed like it never was, as they talked comfortably as old friends are wont to do, and there was no mention of the blowout in June.

Somehow the talk steered towards old times, about the times Kim and Ron had in high school, and while they made sure to patiently let Shego have her say on things, she did feel a little left out on the topic. Even so, it was not lost on her that Kim was playing a simple game of tit-for-tat, where she'd 'curiously' wonder about Shego's past and her own high school stories.

"Nuh uh, Princess," Shego leered at the red-head. "You'd have to get me a _lot_ more trashed than this to hear _that_ story."

"'Kay." Kim murmured, smiling knowingly and hanging her head coyly as she sipped on her Long Island iced tea.

"Not much of a drinker, Stoppable?" Shego asked as she noticed his untouched drink, intentionally steering the subject off course before it could come too close to the events in June for her comfort.

"Oh, I am, I'm just not in the mood for Jack 'n' Coke." he mused, offering the drink to Shego. He'd taken a few sips, but Shego still took it from him. She looked at him square in the eyes as she twisted the glass in her hand to the side he drank out of, and pressed her lips against the clear imprint of his lips on the glass. She let her eyes droop as a seductive glint appeared within them, sipping slowly as she let her eyes seem to close. Shego glanced at both of them through slit eyes, pretending to enjoy the drink innocently as she set the glass down. If Ron had noticed Shego's antics, he pretended not to, but to Shego's surprise, Kim wore an unexpectedly evil smirk.

_Or it's just the booze making me think that..._ Shego quickly discarded that ludicrous thought, since the booze wasn't bothering her much, Ron's drink being her forth drink of the night.

"Lush!" Kim snorted ironically as she took a healthy sip of her own drink. She had easily sipped her way through seven Long Island iced teas in the two hours they'd been talking, and it showed with the slight droop of her eyes and the easy, almost boneless manner she sat in her chair.

"Hey, now," Shego began, pointing at Kim, "I should kick your ass for being a hypocrite!" Ron laughed at the ladies and took a sip of the water he'd gotten with his drink.

"Y'know," Kim droned after they finished laughing, lying her head down sideways on her arms and looking at Shego intently, "Speaking of kicking ass... I think fighting you was some of the best times I had doing the teen hero thing." Surprisingly, she didn't slur her words, and had an almost dreamy expression on her face, and seemed about to say something more when Ron's Ronunicator went off.

"Yellow" he greeted into the phone, his goofy grin soon falling from his face. "Um, you said... Yeah... Uh huh... Dammit, ok... Yeah, see you in about a half hour." He closed the phone looking comm system and glanced up only to behold a sight that would bring a man, if not a nation, to its knees. Two matching puppy dog pouts, both executed flawlessly pierced into the fabric of his soul and tugged at his heartstrings with the apparent 'innocent pleading' of two very hot and sexy women. He screwed his eyes shut and held his hands out helplessly while pleading with them, "I'm sorry, but that was my mom and she needs me to take care of Hanna for a while!"

"Oh... Fucking hell!" Kim muttered in annoyance, earning a surprised look from Shego and a wince from Ron. "Go ahead, then, but you owe me, Ronnie!" Kim said, leaning over and kissing him firmly on the lips. "Be careful, 'kay?"

"Promise, you two as well, whenever you finally head home," his glance was directed at both of them, which surprised Shego. She nodded and Kim followed suit, standing and enveloping her fiancé in a hug.

After a moment, Ron realized that she didn't have any intention of letting him go, her arms were still tightly wrapped around his body. "Um, Kim, you'll need to let go if I'm going to head out."

"One dance before you go?" she asked tilting her head upwards to stare at him. The stare became a variation of the Possible women's 'Puppy Dog Pout': her eyes were still doe-like and sad, seeming to brim with tears as her lips pulled into a soft pout. However, there was something wanton deep in those eyes, and a subtle, almost inaudible, sexually charged whining escaped her lips. The sexy, coy mannerisms thus unleashed made up Kim's 'Puppy Dog Pout, version 2'.

Ron caved faster than a house of cards in a category five hurricane. He gallantly proffered his arm to her, which Kim latched upon tightly. As they walked towards the dance floor, a catchy, happy hardcore track began blaring out of the speakers and they fell flawlessly into the beat.

Shego watched as they danced; their movements just short of erotic as they grinded and moved against each other. She got the distinct impression that Kim looked at her several times, but the younger woman's eyes appeared to be closed while she danced, so she wasn't sure. She watched them for a few minutes before a light, bubbly voice interrupted her reverie. "They're beautiful, aren't they?"

Shego smiled as she unconsciously nodded her head with her reply, "Yeah, they are." She turned to look the woman that had spoken to her, taking her appearance in from the bottom up. Long, toned legs led to a deep blue, form fitting, mid-thigh length dress. She had a flat, toned tummy revealed by stylishly wide slits in the midriff and slight, but shapely breasts. Her arms were toned but slim, with a stylish handbag hanging loosely at her elbow, and her long, graceful hands held a pale pink drink of some kind. Overall, the woman had a runner's physique.

Her face was framed by a fall of wavy blond hair, and while her face wasn't particularly beautiful, she had an attractive cuteness that Shego found stunning. However even in the dim light of the club, her most notable feature would have to be her big, sky blue eyes that seemed completely open and honest, betraying a mix of happiness and something that bordered on melancholy as she stared at the couple dancing on the floor.

"Shego, right?" the younger woman asked, looking at her and extending her hand out which Shego accepted with a curt shake and nod. "I kinda met you when I was over at their place a few times when you were visiting them at Go City U, but I dunno if you remember me?" She asked Shego, earning another silent nod from the older woman.

"I think I remember you from when I did a stint at Middleton High as a teacher." Realization dawned in the blonde's eyes, but before she could say anything, Shego interrupted her almost sharply, "And don't call me Miss Go!"

Tara's smile brightened considerably and her voice rose a notch, seemingly from excitement. "Yeah, I thought you looked familiar last time I saw you at Kim and Ron's! Obviously, I know them from the university. And from high school, too, I guess!" she giggled, and Shego couldn't help but chuckle at the seeming ditziness in the woman's tone.

Tara giggled and nodded, before asking "Mind if I sit down? I've been looking for those two for almost an hour. This club is huge!" Shego shrugged, and Tara took the seat across from where Ron had been sitting, which would make Shego turn her back to the dance floor if she were facing the younger blonde.

Shego took one more longing glance back at Ron and Kim before turning to her new companion with a wry grin. "Nice place, isn't it?" After a silent moment, Shego slammed the rest of her drink. "So, you know 'em from back in Middleton High too, eh?"

At Tara's nod, Shego studied the blonde's demeanor once again. She saw that same happy smile that touched Tara's eyes she'd seen when the younger woman had first spoken to her. But there was also a slight, tense melancholy every time she glanced at the floor where Kim and Ron danced together. "So, how well do you know them?" Shego asked before she could stop herself, a touch of jealousy in her tone.

"_Very_ well," Tara answered simply, with a strange, sad conviction in her voice. "They... Helped me through some very tough times." Tara closed her eyes and shook her head, as of clearing it of bad memories. "But with me going into a psychology doctorate, and with them going back to the hero business..." Tara let the comment trail off, and Shego was about to ask what she meant when a squeal of delight from her right almost made her jump out of her seat.

"Tara, omigod you made it!" Kim screamed, almost jumping past Shego to give the blonde girl a huge hug and a solid kiss on the lips.

Shego's eyes widened at the intimate gesture of affection, and Tara blushed brightly. "Kim, are you drunk again?" Tara asked, covering her mouth to try to stifle a fit of giggles that was bubbling up.

"You know it, Cutie-pie!" Kim replied affectionately, gently tweaking Tara's nose before taking the seat Ron had vacated. "And I see you've already run into Shego! Are you enjoying the club?"

"Yeah," Tara nodded, as she turned to give Shego a smile, "I'm having a good time so far. At least I haven't seen that asshole, though I thought he got an invite."

"Nope!" Kim said happily, "I had Ron cancel Josh's invite after what happened back in June."

"Wait a minute, how can Ron remove invites for the club?" Shego asked with her face askance. "And after 'what happened in June'...?" Shego gave Kim a hard stare, which Kim seemed to coolly ignore.

"He's one of the co-owners, doy!" Kim answered in a tone that sounded like she was stating the obvious.

"Um, but when I was asked to review security for this place, I thought I had met all the owners?" Shego said, now thoroughly confused.

"He figured that he wouldn't need to be here, and the old man, Triple S, was supposed to clue you in on that." Kim shrugged and let out a little laugh, shaking her head. "Besides, Ron figured any advice you gave would be solid; he gave his approval even before hearing your suggestions." Kim's smile was wider than the Cheshire Cat's, and Tara giggled at Shego's confused expression.

"Always count on Potential Boy to shock you, Shego." Tara said sagely. "But I don't care, just as long as Monkey-boy doesn't show up. And yeah, it was back in June when I sort of had another run-in with… Him." The blond bit her lip to stop herself from saying anything more.

"Um, yeah..." Kim said, shifting uncomfortably and looking everywhere but at Shego. _Shit, this has to be some of the _worst_ timing for _that_ particular topic to come up!_

"Wait, Josh... You mean that cute artist guy you dated in high school, Princess?" Shego asked, earning a nod from Kim. "Ok, now I know I'm lost, why is he the world's biggest asshole?"

Tara looked down at the table, shutting her eyes for a moment. "I-... It's just... It's just... He... Changed."

Shego was surprised to hear Kim snort at Tara's words. She turned and gave the red-head an incredulous look, but Kim just shook her head and looked at Tara. "Tara, do you really want to talk about this...? Especially here at the-..."

"I..." Tara murmured, interrupting Kim with a small, apologetic glance. "It's all good, I've got nothing to be ashamed of, and the least I could do is let others know what an asshole he is."

Kim studied Tara for a moment, before the blond surreptitiously tilted her head ever so slightly towards Shego. Sighing, Kim shook her head with a wry smile before taking both Shego and Tara in with a glance. "Then let's go talk about it in one of the VIP rooms. This isn't exactly something that's good table conversation by a dance floor, y'know? That way we can check out the VIP rooms too!" Kim finally said with dry laugh. Shego and Tara both nodded, grabbing their drinks and following Kim towards the wide spiral staircase leading to the upper floors.

Shego watched as Kim grabbed Tara's hand and entwined their fingers together. She wondered for a moment how close those two exactly were._Closer than Kim and me?_

Shego was a little startled at her thoughts. She wasn't entirely sure what brought about that question, but she couldn't help but find the little things to compare between Tara and her. Tara was a little more adorable, a little more innocent and little cuter. Shego found herself glancing at her reflection in a mirrored wall section of the club, wondering about her own physical body.

_Stupid!_ She chided herself, as she reassured herself that Kim was still her friend. Kim was one of her few friends, and that she was just jealously possessive of her friends, nothing more. _Nothing more!_

As they topped the stairs to the fifth floor, her rational side started to reassert itself and slide some missing puzzle pieces of what had happened over most of the last year into place. _I hope I'm wrong..._ she thought before quashing that thought vehemently. She tried to tell herself she'd be happy for Kim and Ron if Tara was involved with them, but failed miserably. Sighing, she shook her head, finally banishing a majority of the negative emotions. _I'll hear this out and decide then..._ She followed Kim and Tara up the small flight of stairs leading to the VIP room's entrance hallway wearing a concerned, but largely neutral expression.

The VIP room Kim lead them into was surprisingly spacious and comfortably appointed. Along the entryway wall was a large plasma screen HDTV, as well as an entertainment system that rivaled the one at Shego's apartment. The system was currently piping music in from the dance floors, making the room throb with the beat of a pop dance tune. The back wall had a wet bar in the corner as well as several pieces of space-themed art. The wall opposite the bar, as well as several feet of the floor, was dominated by the one-way acrylic Shego and Kim had seen coming into the club, giving a clear view down down to the ground floor. Finally there was a huge couch along the wall opposite the entryway, a pair of matching love seats set opposite the couch, and a large, oval shaped aluminum and textured stone coffee table.

Setting their drinks on the table, Tara took a seat on the couch, and Shego lay back on one of the love seats, sliding her simple high heel shoes off and wiggling her toes with a soft sigh.

"Anyone need a refresh?" Kim asked, holding up a bottle of Grey Goose vodka with a raised eyebrow.

"Please," Shego and Tara said at the same time, drawing a giggle from the two women. Kim poured a double shot for each of them, while Tara and Shego finished off the little bit they had from their previous drinks.

Settling down next to Tara, Kim handed the other two women their drinks and set the bottle on the table. Before settling back completely, she turned grabbed the remote and the entertainment system to a much lower level so they could speak at a normal conversational tone. She smiled softly as the blonde stared down into her drink she was holding between her palms. "You want to continue or...?" Kim started, letting her voice trail off.

Tara shook her head slightly and continued without a preamble, drawing a barely perceptible sigh from Kim. "Well..." Tara began, taking a healthy sip of her vodka before continuing, "I thought we were a perfect couple; he was always so loving, kind and gentle with me," Tara didn't look up at either Shego or Kim, and her voice was barely audible over the bass that still pulsed through the walls. Shego turned to Kim as the red-head made an uncharacteristically severe movement, slamming back her double shot in a single swallow before banging her glass back on the table harshly.

"Bullshit!" Kim grated loudly. "Stick to the facts. He was a big fucking jerk and you're better off without him! Don't ever forget that."

"I know... It's just that there were so many memories, good and bad both..." Tara looked up at Kim almost pleadingly.

"Excuse me, how many bruises did you count last time he seriously got ahold of you?" Kim snarled accusingly.

"I... I... Maybe I wasn't a good enough wife?" Tara offered meekly.

Kim immediately sidled closer to Tara, draping an arm protectively around her shoulder. Kim pulled the blonde closely to her, pressing Tara's head onto her shoulder. "No, Cutie... Don't you dare think that way! You're perfect just the way you are, and it was that asshole that ruined everything. There's no reason to blame yourself." She crooned the words softly to the blonde, idly twirling her fingers in the ends of Tara's soft, wavy hair.

Shego was taken aback by the degree of affection that Kim was showing Tara. She wanted to shrug it off to just the close bonds of sisterhood that they had formed when they were part of the Middleton High cheer squad, but knew there was much more to it than that. _What the hell, Princess..._ she thought, ready to go on an internal tirade against Kim when Kim's soft voice interrupted her thoughts.

"Do you want me to continue this for you?" Kim asked.

"No... I'll do it," Tara replied with a hesitant smile. "I know you'll just say he got the beating he deserved by Ron and that's that."

"Wait... Ron?" Shego opened her eyes in surprise. "Ron actually beat a civvie up?"

"That's a lot later," Tara began as she smiled sadly at that memory. "But at first, Hell, even up until November of last year, Josh and I were_great_ as a couple. Yeah, we fought... Well, argued, but nothing serious, just shouting... Nothing physical at first... I always thought it was just the arguing even the best couples have, y'know? I mean, my dad and mom argued a lot, but it was never... Like it got with me and Josh... And Josh and I always made up afterwards." A fragile little smile graced her features as both fond and painful memories came to the surface. "Everything was great, until I think Josh was starting to feel the pressure from college. I'd offer to help him with his classes, but he said that I didn't need to rub my perfect four point oh GPA in his face."

Kim pretended to cough and mutter something under her breath that Shego couldn't hear over the music in the room, but it caused Tara's cheeks to blush a bright pink. Tara instantly retorted, "For the record that isn't true. He was a great lover! And you should know that, even if he wasn't the one that popped your cherry!"

"Tara, stop defending him!" Kim responded hotly, a blush of her own starting to show on her face. "If he loved you, do you think he'd have done half the things he did?"

"I guess not," Tara replied slightly downcast. "But it's not easy, you know... I used to love him. Part of me still does..." she sighed softly and shook her head, continuing with a quaver in her voice. "But I still loved him even after he started looking for reasons to fight. First it was the small things, like dinner would be late, or when I bought something that went over our monthly budget, even if it was just by a couple bucks. Then he'd start finding fault with me, saying that I've been spending too much time outside with my friends and not enough time at home." Tara glanced at Kim and murmured, "I'm sorry about that... I keptcanceling plans with you and Ron because Josh would call and want me home."

"It's not your fault, Tara," Kim whispered as she gently stroked her fingers along the blonde's collarbone, her earlier plans for the in. "You can't be expected to serve his every whim. You are your own person, you _don't_ belong to him."

"Uh huh," Tara blinked hard, then turned back to Shego. "It's just... When he first hit me, I thought I'd done something wrong. I'd stayed out after class with Kim to discuss a paper, and we lost track of time. Josh was mad, madder than I've ever seen before, and he..." Tara left the rest unsaid, as she raised a hand up and brushed the skin of her cheek gently with shaking fingertips, as though still feeling phantom pain from the blow.

"He slapped you?" Shego's voice hardened as her eyes blazed with anger. "I thought he was just a pretty boy, but a wife beater...?"

Tara winced at the words, but said softly, "I thought I knew him..."

"Hey, hey..." Kim gently consoled Tara. "Who would have guessed? I dated him too... I just wished he'd have tried to hit me. I would have shown him what sixteen styles of kung fu could do and he would've _never_ touched a woman like that again."

"But Kim," Tara looked up sadly. "Could you ever hit someone you love?"

"Well, he didn't love you, if going to use that logic," Kim replied hotly.

Tara nodded in agreement with the rebuke, before sighing lightly. "I thought it was just a one-time thing. For the next week, I didn't dare go out, and I was home directly after class," Tara recounted, as she swept her hair behind her right ear to keep it from draping over her eyes.

"I remember that," Kim added on. "You seemed to disappear and wouldn't return my calls. The only times I saw you was in class."

"Uh huh," Tara nodded her head. "Then a while after that, I thought things were back to normal. Josh was still moody and stressed, but he didn't hit me again. Then I thought I could meet up with Kim again, so we went out to a party on campus, and had a good time. When I came home, there he was... Sitting in the dark drinking something, I never really knew what, but... He tended to get really angry when he drank Scotch, so... Anyway, he was drunk and waiting for me to come home. He slapped me a couple times and shoved me onto the floor while yelling at me... Telling me what an unfaithful wife I've been... Not acting like a wife should and making him look bad..." She raised her hand and wiped away a single tear that had fallen from each her eyes.

"You know," Shego reached over the table and grasped her hand reassuringly. "You don't need to tell me any more... I get the picture... Josh was a total asshole, and I hope Ron gave him the beating he deserved and more."

"It's okay," Tara replied, with a tense smile. "You are Kim and Ron's friend after all, so I trust you, and... This isn't just for me." Tara's smile dropped as she went on, her eyes taking on a haunted look. "That was the second time he hit me... After that... I don't really remember much after that, honestly... There were days he'd grab me really hard and shake me, and then there were days where I had bruises all over my body and face when he'd just go into this frenzy... On some days I would miss classes because of those bruises. Then other days, Josh would fly into a rage when my friends like Kim would call just to talk, and he'd yell at me, saying all these awful things..."

"You didn't leave after that?" Shego asked.

"I did... Finally..." Tara replied sadly.

"Not soon enough," Kim replied coldly.

"One night, he was hitting me, a lot worse than normal... It was 'cause my grades had dropped to three point eight..."

"Hypocritical sonuvabitch... Bet he was celebrating that," Kim muttered quietly. Tara paused to see if she was going to say more, but Kim remained silent after her outburst.

"Yeah... So, well, I ran and locked myself in our bedroom..." Tara shuddered at the memory, even though she was in Kim's embrace. "He took something and started trying to break down the door, so I grabbed the keys and climbed out the window and drove over to Kim and Ron's. I kinda interrupted them in the middle of, well... They were playing a drinking game..." Tara's voice trailed off then, blushing in consternation and embarrassment. She stared at her glass for a moment before taking a healthy sip of her vodka.

"It didn't matter, Cutie..." Kim said softly, before turning to Shego, "She was hurt, her face was all bruised up and her lip was busted," Kim replied gravely. "I was pissed, but it wasn't shit compared Ron. He took one look at her, told me to take care of Tara, and left the apartment before either of us could say a word."

Tara smiled thankfully to Kim for the respite, and finished her drink before continuing. "Anyway, Kim took care of me, had me get a hot shower and stuff..." She giggled, half hiding her face between Kim's shoulder and neck, "She even tucked me into bed in their guestroom so I could take a bit of a nap. It was, what, about a half hour later I think that Ron came back?" Tara asked slowly, glancing at Kim for confirmation. "I kinda woke up when Ron slammed the door open and I came down to see what was wrong... Ron... He had this manic look on his face, somewhere between guilt and some perverse kind of pleasure. I was worried that he did something to Josh, but he said he just had a 'talk' with him."

"Hah, I would have made sure he never walked again and ate through a straw for the rest of his life," Kim gritted her teeth, as she clenched her fist. "Ron just knocked the front door of its hinges, and roughed him up a little." Kim sighed and took a few deep breaths to calm herself down. "Then I guess he went upstairs and took some of Tara's clothes and personal belongings, and left."

"Damn..." Shego let out a low whistle. "So she moved in with you? That explains quite a bit."

"Explains what?" Kim asked, her eyes narrowing slightly at Shego.

"Oh, just something I heard at work." Shego answered nonchalantly. When Kim and Tara continued to look at her expectantly, she just shook her head and nodded Tara to continue on her story. "It's nothing, just some stupid rumors. I wondered why I believed them anyway."

"Well, whatever you've heard, most of it's probably not true," Tara said confidently. "These two people are the most wonderful people I've ever known, and I trust them wholeheartedly."

"Aww… Tara," Kim blushed at the compliment. "We're friends, it's no big."

"It's big!" Tara insisted to Kim, before turning to address Shego. "Kim and Ron are really wonderful," Tara said with a knowing smile as she settled her head across Kim's shoulder. "They've been so much more than just friends to me."

"More than just friends, huh?" Shego asked slowly, her eyebrows raising as she looked at Kim, who stiffened up immediately against Tara. "And how exactly do you mean?"

"Oh you'll see," Tara gave Shego a smirk that almost made the former villainess proud. She leaned up and gave Kim a passionate, lingering kiss that made Shego's eyes grow wide with surprise. Kim stiffened, resisting at first, before casting a sidelong glance at Shego to gauge the older woman's reaction. Seeing that Shego wasn't freaking out or panicking, Kim she finally gave in, and let Tara's tongue gently probe the inside her mouth.

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**Authors' Notes**

Uh, oh... We've done another OMGWTFBBQ moment, haven't we? Isn't Kim engaged to Ron? What's she doing with Tara? Does this mean the rumors of Kim with a hot blonde are true? Well... I guess that's kinda out of the bag now, i'n'it?

Seriously, though, I think Shego's having second thoughts about being around Kim currently. She's obviously suspicious of Kim's advances, and with Tara showing up and starting in on her story, Shego's started to put things together. But it's obvious she didn't expect the kiss, and I don't think Kim did, either... Not that she was complaining, obviously! After all, kissing someone back is usually a sign of interest, no?

Story aside, one thing that's kinda weighing on us is that we might've overdone the club a bit, but it will play a role later, so... Dunno, but sometimes local is as important as the characters within... Another thing that's surprising is some of the people involved in the club... Brick, coming back to Middleton as a bouncer over choosing a quick ride to the NFL? Tripple S owning a club in Middleton? _Ron_ being part owner? All confusing aspects of something bigger, to be sure.

And a quick thanks to everyone reading this, and especially to those that've left reviews. It's awesome to know that we've got so much interest going with the story, as off the wall as it seems, so it means a lot!


	4. Divulgence, part II

**Happy Birthday, Shego!**

**Chapter Two: Divulgence, part II**

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Kim stiffly resisted at first, casting a sidelong anxious glance at Shego, watching her reaction first, before she finally gave in, and let Tara's tongue probe gently inside her mouth. Shego's mind was in turmoil. In the past four and a half hours, she had rekindled an old friendship with Kim, was on the receiving end of many mixed signals and now, she'd discovered that her friend was actually a bisexual involved in an open relationship with her fiancé and college classmate.

Shego let out a long, slow exhalation as her mind finally grasped the concept that Tara was the missing link in Kim and Ron's _ménage à trois_. Trying to maintain her cool, she did her best to avert her gaze until the two women parted. Taking a large sip of her drink first, she asked without looking either of them in the eye, "So how did it start?"

"Oh it was..." Tara grinned cheekily as she nuzzled up closely against Kim. "It was kind of an accident...?"

"Accident?" Shego echoed with disbelief. "Um, Pumpkin," Shego started, unconsciously applying one of her old pet names for Kim to Tara, drawing another blush from the young blonde. "Accidents like that happening are about as often as Drakken's inventions actually working, you know..."

"I know, but, well... It was a fluke! An accident is really the only way to explain it!" Tara's expression was stuck between wondering and consternation as she spoke. "Anyway, when Ron got back, well... He had my stuff and I started panicking, thinking that Josh would be coming along any moment to get me and my stuff back." She shook her head at the memory, smiling slightly in embarrassment. "When Ron told us what happened, and Kim got a little... Pissy, I guess." Kim snorted and glanced at Shego, who was smiling ironically at the comment. "She didn't want Ron to, quote, 'go medieval on losers like that', but Ron reassured us that he didn't do much."

"Still, he should've called the cops," Kim muttered hostilely, then sighed. "But I guess it was for the best. You'd probably still be with him if Ron hadn't given Josh that much needed 'talk'."

Tara nodded abashedly. "Maybe. But then again, things might have been different if I hadn't interrupted you and Ron playing that game..." Then she smiled softly before turning to Shego and explained herself. "Anyway, when I walked down from their guest room, I kinda walked into the middle of an argument that was starting up... Then with me panicking and saying I didn't want to impose but they both kinda... Well, they both gave me a hug and said it was no big, and gave me a drink to help me calm down..."

"Yeah, and here all that time I thought you didn't drink all that much!" Kim said with a laugh, laying her hand gently against Tara's hip.

The petite blonde smiled and sighed, shaking her head softly. "Yeah, well... Only from time to time," Tara said with a small laugh of her own. "So yeah, I had a drink, which soon led to a few more drinks... I mean, they weren't exactly alcohol-heavy or anything, and they, well, Kim anyway, was already three sheets to the wind..."

"I wasn't any drunker than I am now!" Kim screeched indignantly, her face reddening again, to which Tara and Shego both chuckled.

"And you just made my case!" Tara said with a snicker, "So Ron threw in some brainless action movie 'for background noise', and then we talked. They asked me how long things had been like this, that kinda stuff, but I demurred... But after a while I started feeling safe, and a few more drinks later, I started telling them everything... And, well..." She blushed and said something too low for Shego to hear clearly.

"What was that, Pumpkin?" Shego asked, her tone almost playful.

Kim glanced at Shego with a concerned expression, obviously not wanting Tara to continue, but before she could open her mouth to voice her concerns, a heavily blushing Tara spoke up with a giggle in her voice. "I told them he hadn't even kissed me since January, so Kim leaned in and kissed me!"

"Oh really?" Shego asked with intense interest.

"Yeah, well..." Kim began as she let out a small cough, a deep blush spreading rapidly from her face to below the neckline of her little black dress. "It's not like I expected anything else to happen! I was just... I dunno, I was a bit drunker than I am now, and I figured I'd help..." Kim felt as though she was just grasping at loose straws. And despite the confused jumble of emotions within Shego, she felt herself laughing along with Tara at the red-head's protests of innocence. "Besides, if I'd have known someone swung that wa-..."

"You wouldn't have done anything different." Tara said in a flat tone, humor dancing in her eyes as she looked at a blushing Kim. "And that was, well... The first night that... Things happened between the three of us." Tara had leaned back a bit to look at Kim, her face once again mixing happiness and melancholy. "Wasn't the last time, either." She added with a slightly salacious glint in her eye.

"And this was all back in June?" Shego asked, leaning forward with a hard but curious expression on her face.

"No, that was back in the first week of January. June was... That was a bit different." Tara's face took on a shamed, guilty expression. "We… Ron Kim and I, I mean, didn't stay together too much longer than Saint Patty's Day... I mean, we met a couple more times after then, but for that two months, it was fun but it wasn't anything serious. Then I asked if they'd be mad if I started dating again." Tara looked at Kim and smiled gratefully at the red-head.

"That was silly of you. You were and are free to choose who you want to be with, and we're happy for you as long as you're happy," Kim's voice was tender, a far cry from the angry, aggressive woman she'd been when they were talking about Josh.

"Yeah, well... We still hung out and stuff, had our fun occasionally, but then I made a terrible mistake. Right about the end of the school year, the forth or fifth of June, I don't remember exactly, Josh called me. He was crying, and he begged to see me and give him a chance to talk and explain himself. That was all he wanted."

Tara poured herself another double of vodka, then threw back half of it after setting the bottle back down. She looked at the two other women guiltily before continuing, her voice subdued and hurt. "I believed him, he sounded so sincere. So I met him at the Starbucks on campus, and... He said he was going to change for me, he was doing things to improve himself, like taking anger management classes and go for counseling, it was all for me, he said. He wanted to me to take him back, and he was going to do whatever it took."

Shego's hands unconsciously curled into fists as she glanced between Kim and Tara. "So did you tell Kim and Ron? And did you actually go on a date with him again?"

Tara shook her head slightly, "Not Kim... Ron knew that I had a date but I never mentioned Josh. Somehow he noticed how nervous I was... He knew, he just _knew_ who I was going to go out with, and... He tried to talk me out of it, but I said that I owed Josh at least that, after our history together... Ron told me to call him if anything went wrong and I promised him I would..." Tara stopped again, her shoulders hitching with trapped sobs.

"I… I believed him… I was just so stupid," she berated herself quietly. Tara leaned away from Kim as the red-head stiffened, shifting herself forward and leaning her elbows on her knees, her drink held loosely between her knees. She shuddered and closed her eyes, trying to keep from breaking down.

"Tara... No..." Kim said softly, leaning in and wrapping the blonde in a warm hug.

Shego sat at her side of the table, her emotions roiling as she watched her once-again best friend comforting the blonde girl so intimately. She fought down the turmoil as Kim hugged the blonde tightly with one arm, then reached out to gently pry the shot glass from Tara's hand and setting it on the table before taking the blonde's hands in her own. "You weren't stupid, Cutie..." Kim soothed as she gave Shego a thankful smile, before turning back and gently kissing the nape of Tara's neck.

Tara sighed heavily, nodding in a jerky fashion. "Yeah, I was... I mean, he asked me if I wanted to get the rest of my stuff or if I wanted to leave it there in case things worked out. I... I bought it all. I went and got the stuff, and he was just like he used to be. He even helped me load things into my car. So we planned a date then, it seemed like the old days..."

"That doesn't make you stupid!" Kim said firmly, using a bar napkin to gently dab at the tears flowing freely from Tara's eyes. "You thought things would be better, it wasn't your fault he's a lying sack of shit!"

Tara didn't seem to notice Kim's words or gestures, lost as she was in her memories. After several long seconds she spoke again, her voice soft and surprisingly hateful. "Then the next day, when we'd make our plans for the date, I had to help with a lab, and was a little bit late... I called ahead but he didn't answer, so I figured he was late at his classes too. God, was I ever wrong!"

"What happened?" Shego asked, even though she seemed to know what was going to happen next.

"He... Well, at first when I got there he was sitting at a table and looking very angry, but he said it was alright. And he was doing this deep breathing exercise, saying it was something his counselor told him would help." Tara shrugged as she spoke, "I don't know if it was true, but it seemed to work. But I was so _stupid_! I should have known that he hadn't changed; he was just keeping it inside for later!"

Kim held Tara a little closer and made quiet hushing sounds, trying to placate the blonde a little. "Don't worry, it's not your fault, no one blames you."

Ignoring her words, Tara dabbed her eyes a little before continuing in a choking, hesitant voice, "We went out to a local bar and grill, and the dinner and date seemed a little stiff, but I didn't recognize the signs. I didn't see that he had his fifth drink of the night when I went to the bathroom, and when I came out, he was... He was giving me this stare, and had this look on his face that was beginning to scare me. I suddenly remembered he'd promised me he wouldn't drink, but he was... So I confronted him about it, and he said he could handle it and it was none of my business. I..." Tara laughed, and it was a hollow, empty sound, "I grabbed my things and told him that he'd lost any chance at getting back with me."

"Did he...?" Shego began, but a sharp look from Kim silenced the older woman. She was annoyed that Kim would do that, and turned slightly to say as much, but Tara's soft voice continued with her story, drawing Shego's attention back.

"I... I went into the bathroom and called Ron," she smiled slightly, glancing at Kim, "I heard Kim asking what was going on, but Ron didn't answer, he just said he'd be right there. He told me to stay where I was and wait because he'd call me when he was pulling into the parking lot." Tara shook her head as she thought back. "I didn't think Josh would be waiting for me right outside of the restroom. He grabbed me roughly and started bitching me out about ditching him. He… He said so many things…"

"Shh… Tara," Kim comforted her. "Nothing he says matters, he's just an insecure little prick."

"He said how I didn't deserve him…" Tara looked desperately at Kim. "He said that he knew what was going on, he heard the rumors around campus and he said I was the biggest slut that he had ever knew, and if I had just come back quietly to him, he would forgive me. I tried to ignore him, and twisted my hand out of his grip. I walked as quickly as I could without running, trying to get out of the restaurant. He followed me, and when I got out to the parking lot, he started yelling, and cussing me out again. He wasn't being nice at all..."

"Don't understate things, he was being a dick." Kim growled, tightening her grip protectively on Tara.

"Yeah..." Tara agreed, covertly glancing at Shego, who had a dark, considering expression on her face. "So when I told him it was over again, and I was going to file for divorce, he _really_ lost it. I don't think he saw Ron and Kim sitting there..." She paused and glanced between the two women, an embarrassed flush on her face. "He twisted my arm really hard and screamed in my face, telling me that he was the best thing that had and would ever happen to me. Ron and Kim were both getting out of their car, but when he raised his hand... Ron was just _there_... He grabbed Josh's hand, and... I think he almost broke Josh's wrist right there. And he told Josh that he wasn't going to hurt me again, _ever_."

"Shit... So Ron dropped the bomb on him, eh?" Shego glanced at Kim, "This was in June? Around the time of that GJ 'sitch'?" She had a slight smirk on her face, but her eyes were still swimming with emotions.

"Yeah..." Kim muttered, her voice annoyed and frustrated.

Shego nodded as Tara continued in a low voice, "It was ugly. He grabbed Josh by the ear and dragged him over to the ditch between the road and the parking lot... I didn't see what exactly happened… I was crying into Kim's shoulder and she was comforting me, but I heard Ron screaming angrily at Josh, and he almost went berserk. I heard Josh scream in pain... Several times... Then everything went quiet. And Ron coolly walked over to me and Kim and the front of his shirt was splattered with blood… And his face too… And… And… He had this weird smile on his face… He asked if I was okay, and after I nodded he flipped open his cell phone and called for an ambulance to pick Josh up."

Shego glanced at Kim again as Tara finished, and was surprised that her eyes were hard, obviously angry, but there was something else there, too. "What's wrong, Princess?" Shego asked in a neutral tone.

"Just... Kinda pisses off that Ron did that. I mean, yeah, Josh deserved it," she shook her head, trying to get rid of the negative emotions. "And yeah, I wanted to do that too, but it could have landed Ron in jail! Dammit!" Kim growled incoherently and leaned away from Tara, tugging her hair in frustration.

_So is that why you blew up at me, Kimmie?_ Shego thought to herself, barely stopping herself from saying it aloud. She stared at the red-head as she took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. "Anyone up for an actual drink instead of straight alcohol?" Shego asked as she slammed the remainder of her vodka in one gulp. "I don't think any of us are sober enough to mix ourselves, and even if she was, Princess sucks at mixing."

Although she was just teasing, Shego's tone was somewhat harsh. If Kim noticed anything out of the ordinary, she didn't say anything. "Yeah, you're right about mixing! Besides, I'd kinda like to get out and dance a bit! Girls, this is suppose to be a night of partyin'! Why are we talking about losers and shit?" She stood quickly and then swayed a bit, giggling slightly and slurring her words in a sudden burst of light headedness. "But I th'nk we'd better go t'the groun' floor... I won't be'n any shape t'walk down th'stairs after dancin'..."

Shego and Tara laughed at that, and nodded in agreement, despite Shego's barely hidden enmity. "Okay, Kimmie!" Tara said with a tad too much exuberance, as she quickly wiped away a last tear.

"Anxious to get back among the crowd and forget about things?" Shego asked, not intentionally sounding sarcastic, but the sharp look Kim shot her let the former villainess know her snide tone did not go unnoticed. "Sorry, but hearing about that kind of thing just..." She made a pair of tight fists, her tendons popping with the force she was using.

Kim sighed, placing a hand on Shego's shoulder. "It's ok, it's in the past, right?" Kim wasn't slurring quite as much now that her head rush was over, but she was still obviously drunk. She glanced at Tara and the blonde nodded with a smile at Shego. "So... Can I kinda lean on ya down the steps, Shego?"

Shego wanted to say something sarcastic, but the pouting, almost loving gaze Kim was giving her stilled any protests. _It's just the booze..._ she groused to herself as the answer slid out from her mouth before she could stop it. "Fine, Princess, but ya owe me. Again." She found herself winking at Kim, who blushed slightly at the gesture. _And what's with the blushing at _me_? I don't remember her blushing over a little wink this easily before, and I'm not the one she's sleeping with!_

Kim leaned heavily into Shego as they began their descent, leaning her head easily on Shego's shoulder. Shego sighed heavily as Kim did so, and started to contemplate the night so far. How she had found out Kim wasn't a lesbian, but a bisexual in a seemingly solid relationship with Ron, but they both had an apparently on again, off again thing with a hot blonde woman. _Just my luck... _She groused to herself, unconsciously tightening her arm around the red-head. Kim smiled and nuzzled her head into the side of Shego's chest, startling the older woman, though she hid it quite well. _We're going to have one _long_ talk later, Princess... _She thought as they got to the bottom floor.

"Hey, Princess, you got it from here?" Shego asked Kim, who smiled lazily and nodded.

"I think so." As another happy hardcore song began to play through the club's speakers, she squealed happily and looked at her companions, as she pulled at both their arms. "Hey, you two wanna join me?"

"Maybe after I get a drink, Princess." Shego said noncommittally.

Tara shrugged, glancing at Shego as she did so and noticing an almost dark expression hiding behind the mask of neutral happiness in the older woman's eyes. "I think I need some water, I'll be out there in a sec, 'kay?" she called out as Kim began walking towards the crowd.

"Ok, don't take too long!" she called back, and was swallowed by the undulating crowd.

Tara looked back and noticed Shego had slipped away from her. With a sigh, she looked around the crowd and tried to spot the green woman through the milling crowd. Defeated, she made her way to the bar in search of Shego.

Shego was standing within the crowd just off of the northeast bar on the ground floor, fighting a war in her mind. She was looking at her phone and the number she'd dialed in from a text she'd received earlier in the day. It was from a mutual friend of her and Alexis, her ex-lover, saying that he'd love to go clubbing with her if she got tired of the Starlight. _Kinda funny that this isn't the only club open so close to Christmas Eve..._ She pondered in this vein for several seconds as she stared at the screen, her finger poised on the 'Send' button. _He did tell me to call him if things were boring here, and he _is_ hot..._

She brought the phone up and was about to call when someone tapped her shoulder. She looked around and saw a man that fit the mold of the typical pretty boy: expensive dress shirt, slacks, and shoes, perfectly manicured, perfect hair, and honestly very attractive. "Hey, sweetheart, why should a woman masturbate with these two fingers?" he asked with a dirty, leering look on his face, holding the index and middle fingers of his right hand up.

_That's it! The last fucking straw!_ She screamed in her mind as she clenched her jaw tightly, letting her anger take the reins, and she let herself revel in the sensation of indignant anger. _Do I have a neon sign over my head flashing "Slut!" or something?_ Somewhere on the back of her mind, a little rational voice told her to calm down, before it was quickly beaten up and overwhelmed by her surge of anger. With a biting tone that rose above the music, she snapped back viciously, "Back off, asshole! I've had much better offers than yours, so why don't you shove them up your own ass because we _all_ know that's the only way you're getting any tonight, 'kay?"

About a dozen people within earshot heard the put-down and groaned in appreciation, and the man's face dropped as if he'd just been slapped physically. "Well, screw you too, you dyke!" he grated loudly, sneering at Shego's retreating back. Uncharacteristically, she ignored his taunts and pushed her way through the crowd surrounding the bar to get a drink.

"_Nice!_" said a familiar voice next to her. Glancing to her left, Shego was presented with Tara's smiling face.

"He asked for it," Shego replied simply, shrugging slightly.

"Yeah, but that was still awesome." Tara enthused, placing an order for water after one of the bartenders had taken Shego's order. "So, what was with the anger up there?"

"Personal stuff," Shego muttered grouchily. She quickly averted her eyes from Tara's inquiring sky-blue gaze.

"You're confused about the whole thing between Kim, Ron and me?" Tara inquired, hitting the point spot on.

"Something like that," Shego muttered hostilely. "Look, it's just me, okay? I kinda wondered what happened back in June, back when Ron was hitting on me and Kim was biting my head off, and I almost lost two of the best friends I've ever had. Hell, two of the only true friends I've had. Turns out it wasn't even my fault..." She turned her eyes accusingly at Tara.

With a long sigh, Tara sidled up next to Shego, slipping her right arm around the older woman's left and entwining her fingers with Shego's. "C'mon... You're making me feel bad."

"I'm sorry," Shego relented, her brows knitting guiltily. Tara saw Shego glance around at nearby patrons trying to listen in and gently urged Shego towards an empty table, moving a chair to sit close to the older woman. After a moment to collect herself, Shego continued in as subdued a tone she could in the noisy club. "It's just... I'm angry at Kim, Ron, and myself... Mostly myself..."

"You like them don't you?" Tara probed. "As more than just friends, maybe?" Shego nodded slightly before she realized it and quickly shook her head negatively and lifted her drink to her lips.

"Yeah, I know what you feel..." Tara whispered to her, catching that quick, positive jerk of Shego's head. "They've got something magical, something beautiful going on between the two of them. Fairytale beginnings, perfect lives together. How many of us can claim that we found true love at the age of four?"

Shego gave a non-committal grunt, but made no effort to stop Tara.

"Makes you wish you were part of that fairytale huh?" Tara gave Shego a knowing look. "It would be nice to have even a small piece of that..."

"Good for you, then," Shego mumbled bitterly. "Was all that in the VIP room just to let me know that the three of you are going to live happily ever after?"

"Shego..." Tara griped gently, favoring the pale-green woman with a sad look. "It's not like that at all... We're not together like that anymore... When Josh is brought up around me, Kim tends to get very protective, and, well... Normally it wouldn't work, but with her, I..." The blonde blushed as she continued, her eyes a bit far off as she looked back on her relationship with Kim and Ron. "It's just so _honest_ with Kim that, at least with her, I respond to that kind of affection _very_ well. But most of that affection's just... It used to be something closer, but we're just friends right now, with occasional bouts of lust..."

"What? Why?" Shego asked in surprise.

"We, um... Well... I talked to them extensively about it before letting it become like that. Even though they said it was fine, and told me I could live with them until I got back on my own two feet. I was already looking for an apartment then, so I was alright with that." She opened her water bottle and took several healthy swigs before continuing in a slow, considering manner, "Kim and Ron are amazing... They didn't push me out, and even asked me if it would be uncomfortable if they found someone, and asked if I wanted them to wait... I told them it wouldn't bother me if they did. And that was back in March..."

"That's about the time Ron first started flirting with me..." Shego said, more pieces of the puzzle in her head sliding into place, her anger and bitterness dissipating somewhat.

"I saw a couple people during that time too... Nothing more serious than dates, but it was nice to be free, y'know?" Shego nodded in understanding as she watched the younger blonde work through something that was plaguing her. "Not to sidetrack here, but during my freshman year of high school I knew I was bi. I mean, I did the experimentation thing before I was with Kim and Ron, so I knew I liked it... But when we..." Tara gestured towards the dance floor, "Got together... I was the one that helped Kim find that out about herself... And it's like... Okay, the only thing I can say is that it made Kim and Ron realize a lot of things about themselves."

"What sort of things?"

"Things like... Well, take the way things are between the two of them... If you know what I mean," Tara began. "Like, well... They are passionate people, they love with all their heart, and I think that's also why they fight a lot..."

"They fight? Kim and Ron?" Shego asked in surprise. "They are like the perfect couple already! What's there to fight about?"

"It's mainly over the little things... They have a habit of caring _too much_ for each other," Tara tried to explain. "I don't know how to say it, but it's like they are... You know how those silly arguments go, where both people insist on letting the other have their way? They'll get kinda angry over that from time to time, and that it, for the most part... But sometimes they'll scream at each other. Then they won't talk to each other unless they have to for a few days, like when Ron beat the shit out of Josh..."

"I'd have never known." Shego said with a confused expression.

Tara nodded, "Same here, 'til I lived with them... Hell, with the Josh thing, the only reason they were back on speaking terms the next morning was because I stayed the night and they didn't want me to be trapped in the middle of one of their fights. Anyway, after I'd lived with them for a while, those arguments sort of tapered off, since they sort of had someone else to shower their love on..."

"Sounds like a good deal for you," Shego snorted contemptuously. "So why'd you leave them, then?"

"Erm... Remember what I said when I first left Josh? How I dropped by unannounced at their place?" Tara asked nervously. "They were playing a drinking game that was purely foreplay..." Tara blushed brightly and looked away from Shego. "I interrupted them, and Kim was, well... Lets just say she was scrambling for something to cover herself with."

Shego laughed despite herself, picturing Kim darting around her apartment looking for the sports bra and panties she tended to wear. "That must have been something else... Just sucks that you saw that under the circumstances you did..."

Tara nodded, a small smile on her lips as she looked back at Shego. "Yeah, but it helped... I managed to laugh a little bit, actually, though it kinda hurt..." She paused and swallowed against the lump that was rising in her throat, "And that night, after Kim kissed me, we all three continued the game I'd interrupted... I asked a few things, and got some surprising answers..." She laughed at that, shaking her head softly. "Well, a couple days later, I came down stairs and they were starting up an argument... I stood at the kitchen entrance as they were making breakfast, arguing about what had happened that first night."

"Uh, oh," Shego muttered, already realizing where this was going.

"Apparently," Tara replied uncomfortably, ignoring Shego's comment. "Ron was irked 'cause Kim was saying that was the first time she'd felt anything like that. He pointed out that when she first kissed me, she said she'd wanted to kiss a girl for a few months. I kinda stepped in and asked her if all that she'd said that night was bullshit and if I was just a quick fling or something. I was... Hurt..."

Tara looked around the club for a moment, smiling at the atmosphere and some private thought before she continued. "But Kim stopped, saying she was just trying to... Save face, afraid it'd hurt Ron if she meant that... So when Ron told her it was alright, and that he had _no_ problems with her kissing some women, she relented, all blushing and confirmed that she'd actually wanted to kiss another girl for a few months..." Tara looked at Shego with a steady, knowing gaze, causing the older woman to flinch slightly.

"Me?" Shego almost yelled out, her face scrunching up in confusion.

"Yes," Tara answered simply, "That's why I told you all of that up there in the VIP room... 'Cause back in June, it was my fault that some of the problems between you three happened."

"Tara, I don't thin-..." Shego began, only to be cut off by a vehement slash of Tara's hand.

"Hear me out, Shego." She pled, taking a breath to calm herself. "It was... I had an apartment by that time, but Josh knew where I lived... I was terrified he'd come back for me when he got out of the hospital. I know, irrational, but still... It was a few days later when I explained it to the apartment manager, and she said she'd allow me to just move into another apartment when one opened later in the month."

Tara sighed heavily and crossed her arms on the table, laying her chin down on her arms. "And that was the night they had some work get together to go to, so when I called Kim, she offered to let me move back in, but she had to talk to Ron first. She was still pissed at Ron about Josh, and when I called, she... Wasn't angry, really, but frustrated about something."

"I see." Shego said, her expression unreadable. "Wait..." Shego protested hotly, "What, they want me in as a fuck buddy or something? They never struck me as swingers, and while I have played the field, I'm selective, and _definitely_ not a swinger!"

"No! No, nothing like that at all," Tara quickly interjected. "It's sort of... Well, they're not swingers, and I'd know, they've had many offers... But as for fuck buddies... Like I was going to say before I sidetracked, after I came into their lives, the way they feel about you is one of the things they realized..." She glanced towards the dance floor again, "I guess not too long after Kim and Ron accepted you as a friend, they both fell for you, but with societal norms and all... They didn't let themselves see it, and... Kim was terrified that they could be so in love with each other _and_ be in love you the same way at the same time."

"Me? Love?" Shego spluttered, a blush racing her drink below the neck line of her dress. She snatched a napkin and tried to dry herself before the liquid soaked into the delicate fabric. "Shit!" She cursed loudly again, earning a few looks from some of the nearby tables.

"Oh, I'm sorry," Tara cried as she leaned back a little, giving Shego space to dry herself.

"Fuck!" Shego cursed again, as she stared helplessly at her stained dress. "Fuck..." she repeated weakly, her eyes started to mist over a little. "Dammit... What the Hell do they want from me?"

"Shego..." Tara placed a hand reassuringly on Shego's shoulder. "I can't really speak for them but I think you should know that they care for you very much. They really missed you the past six months. For God's sake, Kim had this guilty streak that Ron and I couldn't get her out of. She really, _really_ regretted what happened before you left."

"Huh?" Shego queried, ducking her head to discreetly wipe her eyes with the napkin she'd used on her dress. "Funny way she got of showing it."

"It's all complicated, I know..." Tara replied. "But you should really talk to her and Ron about things."

"Huh," Shego sniffled again. "So what about you? Don't you love them too?"

"I guess I still do... But then again, you can say that they're my rebound," Tara replied with a grin. "After them... I regret the thought of leaving, but I'm almost ready to believe that love exists again. I just hope I find my own instead of forcing them to accept me out of sympathy."

"So if they accepted you out of sympathy, what's to say that they're not just accepting me out of sympathy too?" Shego growled hostilely which was a little hard to do, she realized, as her voice came out in a tiny squeak. "I'll kick their asses if that's the case!"

Tara let out a light laugh, "You're silly... They've cared for you, and probably even loved you, for the longest time ever... And they way you've acted tonight, the way you're reacting to all this... I think you love the both of them too; it just took everyone a while to realize it..."

"So you think Kim _and_ Ron love me?" Shego asked, intentionally overemphasizing so she wouldn't be misunderstood. 

"Unless the talks I've had with both of them were all bullshit?" Tara said questioningly, "Yeah... They do. So go talk to them, and please try not to let what happened in June have too much influence on the conversation?"

"We'll see," Shego stood up and straightened her back. "Don't worry, I'm just going to sort some things out." Tara nodded with a supportive smile on her face as the older woman walked away.

She slid through the masses of people, looking for that red shock of hair that would be clearly seen bobbing through almost any crowd. As she'd expected, Kim was easy to find, dancing on her own, with her eyes closed and swaying along to the music. She had her hands held aloft like many others in the crowd, moving as if she had no cares in the world. There was a soft smile playing on her lips, and she looked like a goddess dancing among the stars, which paled in comparison to her stunning form.

Shego sucked her breath in sharply at the sight. Part of her forgot the anger and indignation aimed at the red-head, and part of her cursed the red-head for being so beautiful and so perfect. Shego stood there, at the edge of the crowds, watching her sway to the music a little longer, herself lost in the hypnotic hard trance music that seemed to be embodied by Kim's care-free dancing.

Bright, green eyes shot opened, and Kim looked around as if she knew she were being watched by more than drooling club goers. Her eyes zeroed in on where Shego was, but the thief had merged into the crowd an instant before Kim noticed her. The older woman barely held off a laugh as Kim seemed to pout aimlessly for a moment before the music once again seduced her into its sway.

Shego slunk through the crowds like a great cat stalking its prey. As she moved towards Kim, people moved aside for her, as if instinctively sensing the predator that the green tinted woman seemed to be. Finally sliding into a small space behind Kim, she sidled forward and gently laid her arms over and around Kim's shoulders. She pulled the younger woman slightly to her, unconsciously taking in the scent of her hair. They easily slid into time with each other and the music, years of fighting and then sparing giving them a unique knowledge of the other.

Kim smiled and leaned back into friend, a slow, lazy smile crossing her face as she draped her arms back and pulled Shego's face close enough to be heard over the music. "I was wondering how long I'd have to wait for you!" she called out brightly.

She was about to say more when she felt Shego's hot breath washing over her cheek, neck and shoulder as the older woman let out a soft, "Shhh." Kim shivered at the action and goosebumps rose along her arms and shoulders, giving Shego an involuntary thrill at the response. "There'll be more time for talk later, Princess... For now let's just enjoy dancing together, hmmm?" She asked as she slid her arms from Kim's shoulders to her waist, her arms crossing over the younger woman's torso in an almost possessive manner.

Kim nodded, marveling at how well she fit to the older woman's frame. She smiled as they merged into the crowd, and knew they both felt more than saw the gyrations of the dancers bumping around them, moving them every so slightly closer to each other. She glanced up and saw that all of Shego's attention was on her, and she beamed a grin up at the older woman. She moved her body against Shego's in as intimate a manner as she could, letting her fingers dance over the older woman's her bare shoulders, arms and face in light touching movements that were random and tantalizing.

Shego relished the touch of the younger woman, she wanted to reciprocate, wanted to pull her a little closer to her and feel her warm curves pressed up against her body, but her pride finally won out. "Kim," she shouted over the thumping bass-line. "We need to talk."

Kim's smile turned into a blush, and she nodded, but didn't relinquish her position. "The club closes in a few, can we wait through the last song?"

Shego nodded as the current song began to wind down and the DJ came on over the somewhat muted music. "Alright, on behalf of the club I'd like to thank everyone here for making the Starlight Cathedral's opening night a huge success!" A raucous cheer rose from the crowd, and Shego found herself and Kim cheering along with them, despite her conflicted feelings at the moment. "To close out tonight, we're going to change pace, but instead of a chill or spacey ambient tune, we're gonna change it up with a Pantera cover of an old Sabbath song called 'Planet Caravan'. I do hope everyone enjoys the song as much as you've enjoyed the club!"

As the slow, almost ambient guitar and offbeat drums started, Kim turned to look closely at Shego. She saw the kaleidoscope of emotions swirling through the other woman's eyes and reached her hand up to cup her cheek. She pulled Shego closer to her, leaning up to whisper in her ear. "What's wrong?" she pled softly as she pulled back from Shego, who had stiffened in her embrace.

"I..." Shego looked down and made a conscious effort to quell the emotions she was letting show, but could not do it, the alcohol and pent up frustration keeping her from the control she prided herself on. "I'll tell you in a bit, okay?"

Kim nodded and leaned in again, resting her head against Shego's chest and inhaled deeply. She found the musky, subtle oriental scents of the perfume the taller woman wore almost as intoxicating for the red-head as the alcohol she'd had that night. She smiled and let the trippy music and the soft movements Shego made against her carry her back over what had happened that day.

Glancing around, she saw Tara sitting at a table near the edge of the dance floor, talking quietly with Brick, of all people. _She's finally over it, it seems,_ Kim thought with a small pang of regret. She shook off the regret as she felt Shego's arms tighten around her and smiled she closed her eyes and resettled her head against the older woman_. I just hope things work out..._

"Something wrong, Princess?" Shego asked suddenly, and Kim glanced up, realizing that her gaze was marred by tears she didn't realize she was shedding.

With a demur, distracted gaze, Kim nodded slowly, and half-slurring her words, just spit out the first thing on her mind, "Just worried about something..." She felt Shego's fingers wiping the tears away and smiled at the care the other woman was taking in doing so.

"Kim," Shego said softly, "There are some things I need to ask you."

"What about?" Kim asked, not caring anymore where the questions would lead, just hoping that they wouldn't lead to more heartache. She nodded her head towards the entrance, still swaying gently to the music, rocking her head back and forth to the beat.

Shego nodded at the suggestion and waited until they were away from the other dancers before turning to Kim and placing her hands on the red-head's shoulders, looking directly into the younger woman's eyes. "About us."

Kim's eyes widened slightly as she heard those words, concern and even a bit of fear mingling in her eyes, blemishing the otherwise contented smile she still wore. She stared back into Shego's eyes, trying to discern her intentions before shrugging, "Not now, Shego… Let's do this in front of Ron."

"I'd rather get some of this out in the open between _us_, Princess... But we'll do so on the way to see him, sound good?" Shego asked, holding her breath slightly. _There's no way in hell I'd be able to stand up to both of you... I know what Ron feels, but first, I need to know what _you_ feel..._

Kim clammed up for a moment, pondering silently before announcing, "Sure, why not… Let's go!"

"What about…" Shego tried to nod towards Tara who was sitting at the table she'd recently vacated, watching the two with the head of security, Brick. The former villainess' words caught in her throat when the blonde woman gave a little smile and a thumbs-up sign. She smiled softly and shrugged ever so slightly.

Kim half-stumbled, half-led the way out of the door and towards Shego's car, a whirlwind mix of frenetic activity, as she started talking about the club and things she was going to suggest to Ron to improve. Even though Shego wasn't paying much attention, she didn't protest to being led by the younger, but clearly inebriated, woman to her car.

"Whee!" Kim cried in a little childish squeal as Shego pulled her up short, inadvertently spinning her around. She looked back and then over to see she'd nearly passed Shego's car and blushed lightly before hopping over to the door. When Shego unlocked the car, Kim flopped down into the front passenger seat and strapped herself in with the seatbelt. "C'mon, Shego, life's a wastin'!"

With a long sigh, Shego glanced at Kim who had seemed hyperactive a moment ago, but became subdued and demure as the older woman stood looking at her. She got into the driver's seat and strapped herself in, giving the red-head one last glance to make sure that she was at least securely buckled up, before starting the engine and pulling out of the parking lot.

They were almost halfway back to Middleton before the silence in the car started to be unnerving to Shego. It felt strange to her that earlier in the evening, the two of them were talking easily with each other, without hiding secrets or anything. She was starting to debate whether it was colder inside or outside the car, because Kim's silence made everything seem cold.

Traffic was light on the way back, and Shego was thankful for that because she found her thoughts, as well as the red-head sitting next to her to be very distracting. There were a lot of things she had to ask, a lot of things she _needed_ to know. She glanced down at the speedometer and found that she was going fifteen miles per hour over the speed limit. Did she want to know that bad? _What's the hurry, don't I have something to ask her before we get to her place?_ She chided herself.

The questions were slowly boiling to an eruption within the older woman; she could not stand this bloody damned silence anymore. Her mind mulled through the list of questions she wanted to ask, and finally selected on the most innocuous ones on her mind. She opened her mouth to ask it, just to get the ball rolling, when to her horror, her tongue and her mind were not in agreement. Instead she heard herself spouting off a question in a snarky, sarcastic tone she hadn't used with Kim for almost six months, "So Princess... What do you two want from me, just another fuck buddy?"

Kim looked over at Shego with a look that mingled mild outrage, a strong dose of fear, and a touch of sadness at once. Shego wanted to wince as she saw tears shimmering in the red-head's eyes, and opened her mouth to apologize when Kim turned from her and pointed at an empty grocery store parking lot. "Pull in there, Shego..." Kim asked with a neutral tone in her voice.

Shego did as instructed and looked over at Kim. The younger woman reached up and wiped at her eyes with her knuckles, heedless of the makeup now staining the tops of her hands. She stared at the moon where it hung in the night sky, before unbuckling herself and twisted in her seat, bringing her left leg up and settling it over her right. Finally she looked at Shego, taking a deep breath and slowly letting it out before asking in an almost dead "Is that what you're worried about so much?"

Shego shook her head, earning a raised eyebrow from Kim. "Not exactly, Kimmie... Maybe… Yes? No? I don't know… I have all these questions in me and it's all so confusing. I don't know what's going on." Shego sighed and looked down at her hands, now held in her lap. "Hell, I don't even know why I asked that one, especially like I did..."

Kim nodded slowly, with a slight smile twitching on her lips, "I kinda figured, the way you looked after you asked it." Kim chuckled nervously. "I kinda had to keep myself from blowing up; I don't think that would have been good." At Shego's agreeing smirk, Kim shrugged slightly, shaking her head. "Tara asked the same thing when we started... I, Ron and I, rather, didn't know what we wanted with her... Since we started college, she's always been such a good friend, but..." Kim sighed and looked at the moon again. "I don't think anything long term would have worked out between her and us, so we left it open... We agreed that it'd hurt all of us less in the end that way."

"What about me?" Shego raised her voice in what could only be called a squeak. She quickly bit down on her lip, hating herself for sounding so weak in front of the other woman, but her defiant glare kept Kim's amusement in check when the red-head looked back at her.

"Shego... Even as enemies, I liked you... I always looked at what we had as a friendly thing, since I knew you could hurt me any time you wanted, if you just applied your strength and powers a little bit more,"

Shego nodded, agreeing with both the statement and sentiment. "I never wanted to really hurt you, Kimmie, but..." She shrugged and motioned for Kim to continue.

"Yeah, it was your job and all. That said... When Ron and I went to college, when we moved into an apartment together, it started becoming complicated, real fast... I was out of my parents place, with Ron, and things escalated between us so fast we didn't stop to think, and we ended up being closer emotionally, even faster than we got closer physically. And then when you started working for GJ at the same time I did..." Kim shrugged expansively before continuing.

"What about Tara?" Shego asked, her voice catching slightly.

"I... We, well... We both love her, but... It's just not the same as we..." Kim trailed off, biting her lip nervously.

"Tara told me something you two told her about how you feel..." Kim's blush and almost panicked look was all the confirmation Shego should have needed, but she had to hear the words from Kim, so she pressed on. "She told me you already had feelings for... Someone else... When you first started seeing her?" Kim nodded, her blush deepening, and Shego couldn't help but notice her breathing increasing in pace at the same time.

"How much did Tara tell you?" Kim asked, fidgeting slightly in her nervousness.

"Everything she knew, from what I can tell." Shego said bluntly. The color of Kim's blush lessened, but the pace of her breathing increased again, far from hyperventilating, but nonetheless noticeable.

"Well... Ron and I don't just want a fuck buddy... We wouldn't want to cheapen someone else or ourselves like that... Hell, neither of us have been the type to jump in the sack or anything! Even Tara had to seduce me for more than just a kiss! We don't want a one night stand or fuck buddy that we see once in a while, if that's what you're worried about." Kim looked up and down Shego's body, her gaze heavy lidded and hungry. "Though, if the way you move out on the dance floor is anything like you do in the bedroom, I think you'd be worth the wait..."

Shego blushed, but smirked at Kim in a challenging manner, daring her to comment about the coloration. Kim kept silent and waited for Shego, who sighed and let her smirk fall into a more neutral look as she pondered what to say. Finally, she spoke up, her voice soft and worried. "Kimmie... If what you feel is like Tara said... I don't know, I..." Shego looked away, not wanting to look at Kim at that moment. "How can I know you're sincere after what's happened in the last six or eight months?"

She heard the rustling of clothes, and braced herself for the angry outburst of indignation, tensing in anticipation of a slap or punch. Something that said that Kim was insulted, that she felt Shego had slapped away the hand that was offered to her. She wanted so much to be loved, but wasn't sure if she wanted it like this, by them... _Can I even accept that depth of feeli- …_

Shego felt a tender caress on her cheek as fingertips gently brushed her skin. Bewildered, she opened her eyes to see two misty green orbs staring right back at hers. "I'm sorry, Shego," The soft, barely audible words escaped from those red lips and ran through Shego's like a feather down her spine. She shuddered to hear those words.

"I'm sorry," Kim whispered again, as she leaned in a little closer. "I… I didn't mean to get angry, not now nor in June… It was just in between now and then, I felt so lost without you… Ron and I… We both missed you so much… Before you went on that fucking six month mission, we wanted to let you know how we felt… That's why Ron was flirting with you… We thought it would be easier for you to handle if he approached you..." She paused for a moment to let those words sink in before continuing, "Right now… I just want to let you know how I feel, how Ron feels for you, before you disappear again… We're not asking you to believe us, or do anything you don't want to, just… We just want you to know how we feel about you..."

As Kim spoke, Shego could feel the younger woman's her breath wash across her lips and neck, and was forced to swallow the lump suddenly in her throat. "Princess?" Shego asked, her voice a strained whisper.

Words failed the both of them as Kim closed the final bit of space. Kim's lips met Shego's in a soft caress the older woman hadn't expected; the kiss was tender, loving and soft. It wasn't the kind of kiss that screamed of the depth of their passion, the fire in their souls and the truth of their love. Instead it spoke quietly, offering promises of care and togetherness, of sincerity of feelings, of the passion shared between lovers that shared everything, transcending mere physical desire. _It feels right_... Shego realized, as much as she wanted to fight it. _Wow,_ she thought, her last coherent thoughts slipping away into the surge of emotions, _Maybe we should have waited until we got back…_

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**Authors' Notes**

Well, well, well, interesting little predicament, no? And herein lies the answers to some of the questions that have been raised. The rumors, as most rumors tend to be, were not completely false... Just not as full of the truth as they could have been. Then again, GJ intelligence obviously didn't get dig too deeply into Ron and Kim's private life, so the threesome didn't come into the equation. And therein lies the crux of Shego's problem: does she take a risk of breaking Ron and Kim's heart to protect her own and theirs, or risk it all on the chance that it'll work out?

And then there's Tara. The sweet li'l thing's gone through so much, it's easy to understand how she'd be able to slip into Ron and Kim's life and make such a fundamental change in their outlook. Some people that read this, I'm sure, will hate the idea of Josh turning out how he has in this fic, but it happens far too often in the real world. However, Tara was lucky enough to have supportive friends, friends that wouldn't let her go until she saw just the kind of ass he'd become.

One concern is showing Kim in a particularly negative light... Somehow, it seems that the Kim of the future would be a wholly different person, one who doesn't blush as easily over the smallest matters and one who is more in touch with her sexual side. To us, it seems a perfectly natural outcome of her character so far; she is strong, passionate, breaks norms and is not afraid of expressing herself. We looked at some of her possible role models in the show and perhaps it's not too strange if she picked up a little of Shego's personality quirks through their friendship.

The Kim we present in this story is indeed an amalgam based on her personality, Shego's personality, and the personality of a few women one of the authors has known in real life. Luckily, it seems to be a plausibly accurate representation of a twenty-four old Kim Possible. People that are sheltered, as Kim indeed has been in the series, tend to break out in one way or the other in college. While this isn't always the case, it seems to us that Kim, with her "Anything's possible for a Possible!" mantra, would indeed break out in some manner similar to this. After all, freedom is one of the most intoxicating drugs there is.


	5. Consensus and Confrontations, part I

**Happy Birthday, Shego!**

**Chapter Four: Consensus and Confrontations, part I**

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Shego found herself unsure what to do. She was frozen in place by Kim's lips touching hers. Wide-eyed in shock, she could feel the palpitations in her heart, but despite the rising panic in her throat, her kisser was feeling the exact opposite of the turmoil within her.

Kim's face was a portrait of calm and collected poise, with her eyes closed and pouring every bit of emotion into the kiss. While Shego had expected a lust-filled, wanton expression of mere desire and lust, she found herself duly surprised by the gentle pressing of Kim's lips against hers. As she had realized a moment before, it was the kiss of someone in love, not lust, and was the kind of kiss she'd dreamt of and fantasized about for years.

And after several long seconds, she found herself deepening the kiss, despite the reservations and uncertainty of the past several months._What the _Hell_ is wrong with me?_ she screamed at herself, a part of her mind pushing her to back away from the kiss. But her body was refusing to listen to her, especially when a tiny, almost fearful moan escaped Kim's throat. _It's Ron that I want to kiss, dammit, I'm not supposed to-... It's not... It's... Nice..._

The admission caught her off guard with the truthful ring it bore. And the kiss was indeed unlike any she had shared with a person for years. Her first love had been wild, passionate, lustful and physical, but almost never comforting; it honestly scared her that she was receiving all that and more from the red-head she had both hated and considered an irreplaceable friend in turn. _This is too much... I'm not some whore that'll sit by and be someone's plaything!_ She thought, tensing slightly, which seemed to be the cue for the two women to pull away from each other.

"Princess, I-..." she began firmly, only to have her words stop dead in her throat as she looked closely at Kim. The younger woman's eyes betrayed a small hint of the passion Shego had been told and knew she possessed, but they also bore uncertainty, contrition, and even a little fear. Shego had been prepared to lay into her with a scathing rant had she seen a lustful and wanton disregard for her that the mint hued woman expected, but held back when Kim blushed and looked down at the car's center console. "Why did you do that, Kimmie?" Shego asked instead, confusion lacing her voice.

"I..." Kim began, but stopped and swallowed against the lump in her throat. "I'm not too good with words when it comes to things like this, Shego... Especially when I'm drunk..." She let out a small, hesitant giggle.

Shego let out an agreeing chuckle herself, grabbing one of Kim's hands in hers, giving the younger woman a reassuring squeeze despite her own still-powerful reservations. "Okay, but that still doesn't explain why you kissed me, now, does it?"

Kim nodded slowly in agreement, and thought of the best way to describe her actions. "It's... It's hard to explain... I, um, really do suck with words at times like this. I... You know how physical I tend to be, Shego, and... I wanted to show you, to let you know the best way I know how to... That we're looking for something other than a quick lay." Kim hurriedly rambled over the last few words, shaking her head briefly before looking up at Shego reproachfully. "Hell, if that's what we wanted, we've had plenty of offers from some damn good looking people, it's just..."

"Ok... Ok I can see that, Kimmie..." Shego reached up and brushed Kim's lips briefly with her fingertips to silence the younger woman, a slightly ironic smile on her face. "I can _feel_ it... But what makes you think I'd be interested in anyone other than Ron?" she asked, kicking herself mentally as her mouth again ran away from her mind.

Kim, however, laughed at the comment, seemingly relieved by Shego's change to what amounted to her old self. "The way you've looked at me for years, maybe?"

Shego's mouth dropped open and her eyes went wide, a blush crawling up her face like a fire up a dry hillside. This drew a full bodied laugh from Kim, and the older woman looked about to protest the comment.

Kim quickly held a hand up, stifling Shego until she could recover from the laughter. "Sorry," she finally apologized, "You forget, Shego, I learned from the best when it comes to noticing things."

Shego smirked at the obvious compliment, and favored Kim with a dry retort. "Flattery, Princess, can get you a lot of places, but don't overdo it with me..."

Kim nodded and smirked lightly before continuing, "Yeah, I know... Anyway, when I first started out on the teen hero thing, I was oblivious to it. Then, as I got older, I could have sworn that you were interested in me, especially after the Lorwardians... Those little looks you'd give me when you didn't think I was looking... Well, at least at first. But they tapered off, and then you started showing interest in Ron..." Kim sighed and glanced out the front window, noticing snow starting to fall outside the car. She sat back in her seat and buckled up as she thought on how to continue.

Shego took the hint and put the car into gear, pulling out of the parking lot. However, she did not give Kim a moment of respite, as she pressed on with her questions, raising an elegant eyebrow as she asked "I started showing interest in Ron...?"

"Well... It was obvious you liked him, especially after his last trip to Japan." Kim continued after a moment, smiling slightly at the image of a certain blond man. "And... You still looked at me, from time to time..." She glanced at the older woman as though waiting for her to respond to the unasked question.

Shego let the pause stretch out as she continued to drive. When Kim didn't continue after a couple minutes, Shego sighed and glanced over at the red-head before choosing her words slowly. "I thought you were... Sexy…" She grimaced at the admission, shaking her head. "But, well... Since my first real girlfriend, I've been more interested in screwing women than dating them, for the most part... And you never seemed..." She held up a free hand to wave it vaguely at herself.

"Interested in women?" Kim filled the rest of the question in for her, to which Shego nodded. "I don't know, it was rather confusing to me at first. But I can't say for sure whether I'm interested in women in general. I'm interested in a few people, that's for certain." She let that statement hang in the air for a moment before continuing, "And what about me, was I ever someone you were interested in, other than just physically?"

Shego nodded mutely again, but her mouth was screwed up into a confused grimace. "Princess," she said, turning to the younger woman as they stopped at a red light, "With you it's been, well, kinda confusing, I guess?"

"How so?" Kim grunted in response, her tone slightly miffed.

Shego smirked slightly at the tone in Kim's voice. "I mean, when I first started fighting you, I was all 'Just doing my job.', but then you kept getting better and better, and our fights tended to turn into wrestling matches... I guess that's when we started getting really intense, and... It was confusing!" A nervous catch in Shego's voice elicited a giggle from Kim. "Don't laugh, I mean, c'mon, Princess! You were not only one of the 'good guys', you were underage!" Shego said with a nervous laugh, "I may have been evil, but it was kinda... Awkward, okay? Then you started dating Ron, and, well... You were off limits, and I kinda intentionally started pushing _those_ thoughts about you to the side..."

"It seemed you had those thoughts on the dance floor..." Kim pointed out quietly. When she saw Shego's eyebrow curve up, she started blushing, looking over at Shego with her eyes wide like a deer staring into a car's headlights. "Oh, um..."

Shego laughed, pulling forward as the light changed. "Don't worry, Pumpkin, you're right... I haven't had any for months, and tonight kinda brought back some old girl-crush feelings... That's why I wanted to leave before talking to you, I'm not sure if I'd have kept my head otherwise."

Kim nodded, "Yeah, I guess you're right. So, still wanting to talk to Ron, I suppose?" Kim asked nervously.

"Yeah," Shego replied with a smile, "I need to know a few things before I decide on whether I really want this or not. After all, I don't have the best track record with long term relationships, especially with women!"

_But Ron and I are a couple, Shego..._ Kim thought to herself, biting her tongue to keep from saying it aloud. "Why's that?" Kim asked instead, schooling her tone to sound interested but not too probing.

Shego smiled wryly at her friend, shaking her head slightly, "I suppose I should tell you, even though I'm not nearly as drunk as I'd like to be..." She took a deep breath and held it for several seconds before letting it out in a drawn out sigh. "Well, when I was still in Team Go, I was kind of a firebrand." The irony of the revelation caused both women to break it out raucous laughter. After taking a moment to compose herself, Shego continued in the dry tone she'd adopted. "I know, shocking, right? Well, I was just at that experimentation stage, y'know, clubbing, sneaking drinks 'cause I was a superhero of the city, dating the 'wrong' kinda people as well as the right ones. I had some fun, and the man that took my virginity I actually dated for six months first..." Shego paused, a soft, reminiscent smile on her face.

"Go on..." Kim urged, unconsciously clasping her fingers in Shego's free hand.

"Granted, he wasn't the first person that I had sex with... That honor went to one of my childhood galpals, but she never went so far as, well... Anyway, not too long after our first time, he went into the military... He wanted me to come with him, but I was a hero, right? So I didn't want to leave Go City, and we broke up amicably, stayed friends, all that shit. Hego saw it as a bad sign, saying my clubbing and my tendency to make out with hotties in clubs threatened the 'good name of Team Go'... That's when we first started arguing."

"Oh..." Kim said softly, a concerned smile on her face as Shego's words took on a note of melancholy. She squeezed the older woman's hand as they pulled into the neighborhood where Kim's parents and brothers lived. "So, that's when he started believing his 'Shego was drawn by evil' spiel?"

"Yup!" Shego said with unexpected enthusiasm. "But he was totally convinced by the time I took his girlfriend away from him!" Shego laughed at this, a full, unapologetic belly laugh, and Kim hesitantly joined in.

"What?" she asked between giggles.

"Heh, y'see, Princess, there was this reporter he had the hots for _really_ bad, Gabriel Worthing. She was constantly reporting about us, interviewing us after battles, that kinda thing. And yes, she was all kinds of hot, believe me. Damn near perfect body, attractive but not too attractive face, kinda girl next door, and she seemed so innocent and naive... So one day, after the camera was done rolling, Hego asked her out. They apparently went on a few dates together, but I didn't know about it." Shego shook her head again, still smirking and snorting an occasional laugh. "He wanted to keep it all secret though, so one day she comes by Go Tower under the guise of interviewing him, but apparently wanted to further their relationship."

"Oh my God, Shego, wasn't he happy to have her? Why was he so secretive?" Kim asked, shocked.

"Well, he didn't want anyone to know about it, claiming to be afraid a villain would kidnap her or some shit." Shego paused to let that sink in before continuing. "But he was actually afraid that it would cause a scandal. So anyway, Gabby comes in looking for him, but he had been called out to help with some rescue op that needed his super-strength. I told her that and she seemed pretty down about it. I told her she could wait if she wanted, so we sat and watched TV for a while, chatted, and that's when I found out they were dating. At first, I kinda offered to share some of the booze I had stashed away in my room, as a congratulatory thing. She... She kinda snorted sarcastically, but accepted, making some comment about me being a bad girl, and her being one for accepting from a minor." Shego smirked at Kim's raised eyebrow, before continuing in a more reminiscent tone.

"So, I guess it was about three hours later it's nearly lunch time and neither of us had apparently had anything to eat, so I asked her if she wanted anything..." Shego snorted a laugh out again, this time though her face was tight with so many emotions that her face was unreadable.

"What happened...?" Kim asked, already having an idea what happened.

"Well, princess... She apparently wasn't interested in a long term, serious relationship with Hego." Shego shook her head in annoyance as she heard the dejected tone of her own voice. "So when I asked that, she looked at me and said 'You!'" Shego pulled into the driveway of the Possible house and turned her car off, but sat in her seat several seconds before taking her seat belt off and looking over at Kim. "She'd used Hego to get close enough to me to ask me out. By that time I was pretty annoyed at Hego, so I told her that I'd love to go out with her sometime, unless she wanted to stay in..."

"How long until you were caught?" Kim asked, a small smirk curving one corner of her mouth.

"Oh, about six months... She broke up with Hego the night we hooked up, all teary eyed and stuff 'cause, as she told him, 'I couldn't handle it if something happened to you on a mission!' She pulled off the teary eyed girlfriend pretty well, so he broke up with her. She said she wanted to be friends and asked if she could come over regularly to do an exposé on us, and we all had no problems with it. She and I also had sex the first time that night, which goes against my normal ideals..." Kim cocked her head slightly at Shego, earning a sour look from the mint hued woman. "Hey, I may like sex, and may not have had many relationships that involved _more_ than sex, but I'm picky, dammit!"

Kim laughed and Shego huffed, turning her face away from the red-head, but not pulling her hand away. After finishing her laughter, Kim squeezed Shego's hand again, "I'm sorry, Shego, I know you're no slut or anything, but the look on your face was _priceless_!"

Shego smiled despite herself and nodded. "I'm sure. Anyway, one night she was there interviewing us, Hego and me, when we got a call. Apparently some thieves were trying to break into the Go City Museum. The twins were out of town on some school thing, and Mego was with his girlfriend at the time, so Hego said he'd take it and I could finish the interview with Gabby. We hadn't seen each other for almost four days, and 'cause of our monthlies, we hadn't had sex in almost a week and a half before that. So we were horny as hell. We screwed each others brains out right there in the command center."

"Someone found you, didn't they?" Kim said, deadpan.

Shego nodded and blushed slightly in her recollection, twirling some of her luxurious hair in one finger before continuing. "And 'cause we didn't want to be disturbed, we turned off the main command panel. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know that Hego had tied the command panel into the GoComms, setting it up that if the command center comm unit was turned off, it'd alert the GoComms that something was wrong. It was also an unfortunate, and unknown, side effect that if the command panel was down the GoComms wouldn't be able to communicate with each other. So after capturing the crooks, he came hauling balls back to the tower and, on the way there he got a call that Aviarius was doing some plot or another, and well..."

"Well?" Kim asked as Shego trailed off again, her eyes filled with a mischievous, almost evil glint.

"Hego came running in all full of piss and vinegar and saw his ex-girlfriend's head thrown back in mid-orgasm and his sister's face buried in his ex-girlfriend's crotch." Kim started giggling again, earning a growl from Shego. "It's not funny, Princess... Because of his reaction, we didn't make it to stop Aviarius, and he stole what he was looking for. Hell, Hego blamed me personally, and tried to blame Gabby, saying she was a plant by Bird-boy... Well, I probably should partially take the blame for his actions... He was basically in love with her, he never did get to jump in the sack with her, and there I was screwing her brains out, so... I guess I really was evil!"

"Well, yeah, but still... Blaming you and her, saying she was a plant? C'mon, that's pushing jealousy a bit far, isn't it?" Kim asked with a snorting a derisive laugh.

"Yeah, and that's why I beat the living hell out of him and left the team. I stole the item from Aviarius, returned it, and went into hiding. Hell, I liked stealing it so much I started doing that when Gabby was out on some journalistic chase or another... And yeah, Gabby stayed with me for a while, but when I started doing the thieving thing full time, well... We broke up, and it wasn't pleasant..."

"I'm sorry, Shego..." Kim whispered, looking down at their clasped hands as Shego tightened her grip. "But what happened?"

"Hey, it's ok, Princess, you didn't know..." Shego said as she wiped at her eyes with her free hand to keep tears from falling, then looked at Kim. "But I'd... I'd really rather not talk about it, at least right now, kay? I mean, it was _really_ bad, and it's why I'd really like to talk to Ron about... Us... Um, if we're not going to be waking anyone up, that is?"

"Nah, the rest of the clan Possible went up to Belgrade to visit with my uncle Slim and cousin Joss, they won't be back 'til around four or five this morning." Kim said in an almost dismissive manner.

Shego sighed and nodded, before letting go of Kim's hand, exiting the car but waiting for the red-head to join her. Kim slipped on the now snow covered driveway, stumbling a bit as she rounded the car. Shego reached out to catch her, smiling and shaking her head at the younger woman. "You're just a handful when drunk, aren't you?"

"Yes, and I'm even more of one when I'm horny." Kim said with a devilish, husky growl, a mischievous glint in her eyes. Shego laughed and half dragged, half carried Kim to the front door. "So how badly did Hego react to you eating his ex out?"

"Well, Princess..." Shego started, a matching glint in her eye.

----------------

Ron Stoppable was an anxious man tonight. Not that most people would expect anything other than that, but that young man disappeared literally years before this night. The last time he'd been this anxious, he'd expected to be summarily locked into a space probe destined to the nearest black hole. That had been two years earlier when he had proposed to his fiancée, Kim Possible. No, tonight he had more pressing matters, which he was sharing with one of his best friends in the world, the naked mole rat known as Rufus.

"What do ya think, buddy? Did I do the right thing?" he asked his long time companion uneasily as he deftly sliced the sandwiches he was making into small, bite sized squares.

"Dunno?" Rufus said while raising his hands in an expansive shrug. He went back to snootily sniffing at some gourmet cheese his human best friend had purchased for him, smiling at the seven year old aged cheddar he was currently perusing. Using his sharp claws he picked a small piece off and popped it in his mouth, chewing appreciatively, before swallowing and turning back to Ron. "Good cheese!" he squealed before once again turning contemplative. "Tara had goo' id'a! Kim rawr tho'..." he finally answered Ron's original questions.

"Yeah, but you know as well as I do that Shego needs to know what happened, and Kim will understand..." Ron said, chewing on a few leftover sections of the sandwiches. "I just hope she doesn't get too angry."

Rufus walked over to Ron and laid a clawed hand on his elbow. "She com' 'round. Tara's idea an'way!" he said with certainty. Then he cocked his head and gave Ron a scolding glare, pointing at the food platter. "You ge' ready fo' Kim 'n' Shego!" he said, holding up a platter for Ron to take out to the living room.

Ron looked quizzically down at his friend then over at the clock. "Oh, shit, club's been closed for over a half hour, hasn't it?" he asked, to which Rufus nodded. Grabbing the platter of sandwiches from Rufus, he went out into the living room and placed it on the coffee table in the middle of the room. "What do you think, Rufus, orange juice and the like or light mixers?"

"Bleh, alr'dy drunk! Juice!" he squeaked in admonition, to which Ron laughed. He walked into the kitchen just as he heard Shego's Audi pull in out front, and sighed in relief as the engine turned off.

_At least she'll be visiting for a while..._ he thought, pulling a few glasses from the cupboard and taking them out to the coffee table. Glancing out the front window, he saw the two ladies in a conversation in Shego's car, and paused. Kim looked as if she'd been crying, and Shego was scrubbing at her eyes with her palms.

"Oh, man..." he said as he spied this, but instead of running out like his instincts told him to, he stayed inside, settling the glasses on the table and going back into the kitchen. "I think I may have screwed up, ol' buddy," he said to Rufus, a neutral look on his face. He heard two car doors open and close and held his breath, his fingers inches from the pitchers in the refrigerator.

A sudden gale of laughter from the two beauties that were just outside the front door calmed him down measurably, and he let out the breath he'd been holding, feeling suddenly light headed. Rufus laughed and did a little dance, giving Ron a thumbs up before scampering towards the front door. The reason for his dash was the sound of keys laboriously fiddling at the lock, easily heard over the sound of rampant giggles. "Mayb' no'?" Rufus called as Ron chuckled, walking towards the living room with two juice pitchers.

Rufus flipped the lock, chortling at the sound of keys missing and complaints coming from just outside the door. Just as he twisted the front door knob, he felt the door fly open and he went flying like a gymnast, straight towards a startled Ron. Rufus, thinking quickly, grasped onto the front of Ron's dress shirt, holding on for dear life. "Ohmigod, Rufus, are you alright?" Shego asked, having seen the hapless rodent fly from the door handle.

He gave the mint hued woman a thumbs up and scampered up to Ron's shoulder to peer at the two women standing in the door letting cold air and snowflakes com flying in around them. He made a show of shivering and wrapped his arms around his torso, earning a laugh from the other three occupants of the room.

"Okay, Rufus, we're getting in!" Kim called out to him, a trifle too loud for the situation, and pulled Shego in, slamming the door behind them. "Anyway, he actually had veins popping out of his temples and forehead like a cartoon? You're kidding me!"

"Hardly, Princess. He was _livid_!" Shego shook her head and smiled. "And, Ron, before you ask, I was telling Kim how I kicked off of Team Go and why I suck at relationships!" Her face was laughing, but both Kim and Ron could see a subtle play of emotions in her emerald eyes, and Kim slugged her shoulder firmly.

"Enough of that, Shea!" she said sharply. Shego raised an eyebrow in annoyance, knowing that Kim normally use her given name unless quite annoyed with something she'd done.

"Well,_Kimberly_, it's the truth!" Shego said in a droll tone of voice. "Let's see, since I first met you, I've dated a total of fifteen people, and about twenty before that... And three, _three_ have gone beyond one or two dates! And two of the rest were drunken one night stands! Not a really good track record, y'know?" Shego sighed and shook her head, "But that's beside the point, where was I?"

"Hego and veins popping out on his head?" Ron supplied helpfully.

"Oh, yeah, ok," Shego replied, her smirk returning full force. "Anyway, he looked at me and asked 'What the hell are you two doing?' and started bitching me out about the emergency call. I told him that I'd turned off my GoComm and the master control since I was pretty sure that the rest of the team could handle anything that came along."

"They should've been able to." Kim said with a confused air.

"Yup," Shego confirmed. "But he got all butthurt 'cause I had the master comm unit off, and since he hadn't bothered to tell me that it was tied into the GoComms for emergencies, well, I didn't know about it." She shrugged walked over to Ron, giving him big a hug and a kiss on the cheek, her normal greeting to the attractive blond. "Hey again, Ron, and you too, Rufus!" She reached up and scratched lightly under the naked mole rat's chin, earning a near purr from the rodent. Turning from the two she threw herself down on the couch with a huff, grabbing the TV remote and randomly choosing a channel. When a Food Network special on the channel's various star chefs came on, she tossed the remote back on the coffee table and stopped cold. "Ok, looks like you got home from watching your sis early?" she asked, giving Ron a suspicious look.

"Um, yeah." He said, holding up the two juice pitchers as if in defense. "Yeah, I did. So Rufus and I figured you guys would prefer something other than alcohol now?"

"Sure, Ronnie," Shego said warmly, glancing over at Kim who looked almost miffed at the idea. "Don't look at me like that, Princess, you and I both know you're trashed."

"I am no-..." Kim said, just in time to stumble and fall onto the couch. She grumbled incoherently for a moment, before deciding to lean lazily against her friend as she had many times in the past. She reached out and grabbed two empty glasses and handed one to Shego, holding hers out for Ron to fill. "Peach, babe." She said took a huge sip when he was finished pouring. "So, was he honestly not sure what you were doing?"

"Orange, Ronnie." Shego said and held out her glass. "As for Hego... At first, I really don't think so. Ya gotta understand, he was still a virgin, and he doesn't even watch porn! So I told him that I was giving Gabby the best head of her life and he got even more pissy. That's when he turned the master comm on and got word that Aviarius was already gone. He unloaded on me and Gabby, and like I said, he was saying she was a plant by Aviarius and all that, calling us 'heathen women' and the like, so I beat the living Hell out of him. Next time I saw him or anyone else from the team was when Aviarius stole our powers. Thinking about it, what he stole was one of the parts he used for that staff..."

"So Hego's an uptight prude, huh? I guess married life calmed him down a bit then," Ron commented as he sat down next to his fiancée and draped an arm over her shoulders. As his fingers gently brushed along Shego's exposed shoulder, she felt her muscles tense as a shiver worked its way up her body.

She didn't know what to make of her reaction; she shut her eyes briefly to steel herself from how strongly she had been affected by just an accidental touch. She wondered whether she could even hold herself in one piece near him.

Plastering a forced smile on her lips, she turned her face slightly away from the blond and replied, "You have no idea, Ronnie." Following a soft sigh, she continued, "I'm just glad that he got back together with Gabby… She's better off with him, not with someone as fickle and immature as me."

"Don't be hard on yourself, 'kay?" Kim asked softly, looking up at her with those sad puppy dog eyes. "It's not entirely your fault that shit happened like that, but at least we know why you left the team. And I can kinda understand why things went how they did with you after that..." Kim gazed into Shego's eyes with thankful understanding for several seconds, before settling her head against Shego's shoulder. "Let's watch a movie?" She asked out of the blue, reaching out to grab one of the finger sandwiches and nibbling daintily at it.

Ron and Shego agreed, and a playful argument erupted over what to watch. Kim wanted to watch a comedy, while Ron and Shego wanted action, so they compromised on something with a little of both. "It's been years since I've seen Die Hard..." Shego said, not dismissively, but definitely uncertain.

"Eh, it's to pass the time, right? Besides, it's got Christmas music in it!" Ron said with a smirk, watching as Kim found her preferred choice of sandwich squares and horded them to one side of the platter he'd set up, then grabbed one and hungrily wolfed it down. "Hungry, KP?" he asked with a teasing smile.

"Fuck you," she responded after swallowing, smiling at him as she did so.

"I'm sure there'll be plenty of that later." Shego said with an innocent look on her face. "Oh, wait, you're visiting your parents place, my bad!" she added, giggling as Kim spluttered peach juice into her nose and almost on her dress.

"Shea!" Ron admonished, his face an overdone look of mock sorrow as he glanced between his fiancée and Shego.

Shego, having just recently been annoyed at Kim's use of her given name, shivered slightly as Ron spoke her name. _How the hell does he do that? Twice in less than five minutes, no one's done that to me before! Maybe I was wrong about coming over after all... _

"Not_funny_!" Kim grated in agreement with Ron, reaching out for a tissue to wipe the offending juice from her face and neck. She couldn't reach, and instead of getting up from her comfortable position, she glanced at Shego with a pleading look.

"Here, Princess..." Shego said with an annoyed air, ruined by the smile still tugging at her lips, as she grabbed a tissue and held it out to Kim. "Such a bother," She added as an after thought, giggling again as Kim stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at her.

"So things are definitely okay between us now?" Ron asked out of the blue as the movie started.

"It depends..." Shego said, glancing at Ron with an unreadable expression. "We're gonna have to talk…"

"I kinda figured." Ron said noncommittally, "And was that Tara I saw sitting with you when I left, Shea?"

"Yeah," Shego and Kim said at the same time, "Jinx!" they replied, again simultaneously.

"Dammit, Princess!" Shego said laughingly, tweaking her nose. "We're too much alike, you know that?"

"Yep!" Kim said, reaching up and tweaking Shego's nose in return before turning her attention back to the movie. "That's why we're best friends, right?"

"Something like that. But we're not _that_ much alike, Princess..." Shego said with a haughty air about her, before snorting and reaching for one of the sandwich squares Kim was hoarding. She popped it in her mouth and chewed slowly, then smiled appreciatively before looking at Ron. "Fried bananas and peanut butter?" she asked, receiving a nod in return. "Swee-..." Then her face fell slightly before glancing back at Kim, who was holding her breath with twitching shoulders to keep from laughing. "Not a word, Princess, not one word..."

The three of them laughed after a moment, turning their attention back to the movie. They spent the next nearly two hours chatting about inconsequential things about the movie and the various realistic and unrealistic things they saw.

"I still can't believe Karl, a supposed German national, didn't understand 'Schießen der Glas!' I mean, c'mon!" Shego half-yelled out at the television

"Well, he might not have heard Hans, what with all the shooting. Or he didn't understand why Hans wanted him to shoot the glass?" Kim pondered tiredly.

"Eh, maybe," Shego conceded, yawning slightly herself. "But still..." she added stubbornly before she felt Kim resettle herself slightly.

"You're just stubborn." Kim said with a smile, settling her head against Shego's bosom. She stared at the TV with a soft smile on her face, not really seeing it as the combination of Shego's extra-human warmth and the steady heartbeat she could hear under her lulled the red-head into a quick sleep.

"Hey, Kimmie...? You know something? Thank you for not laughing at me about why I left Team Go." Shego whispered, shaking her head gently at her friend. Kim responded by muttering something unintelligible at her before unconsciously laying her free arm around the older woman's waist.

"Shea?" Ron queried as Shego continued to watch Kim sleep against her. Shego nodded almost absently to Ron, a soft smile playing at her lips as she tickled Kim's nose with some of her long, raven black hair. This action earned a cute muttering of protest and scrunched up face from the red-head. "Why would you think we'd laugh at something like that?"

"'Cause it just happens," Shego muttered quietly, trying not to wake Kim up. "Everyone laughs, not at Hego or Gabby or the whole incident. Everyone laughs at me, for being a silly little girl that got all worked up and messed up her stupid little life just because of something dumb… And it hurts, y'know, when someone you trust and open up to suddenly turns around, points at you and laughs."

Ron reached up from Kim's hair to run the back of his fingers along Shego's cheek. "That's asinine that people can be like that... But their loss." He said with surprising strength in his words. Shego leaned her face into his fingers for a moment before opening her eyes to stare at him.

"Yeah, I'm not as lucky as you two, though. I wish I was..." She said, her eyes misting as she looked at the young man she'd let herself fall in love with. "I wish... Dammit, I don't know what the Hell I wish anymore, Ronnie..."

"Well, how about you help me clean this up and we'll talk about it?" Ron offered with a soft smile.

"What about...?" Shego asked, looking down at Kim using her chest for a pillow.

"Don't worry, the only thing that'll wake her up now is the Kimmunicator." Ron chuckled, before sitting up to help Shego move Kim off of the older woman. "See?" he said after they gently laid her head down on one of the couches throw pillows.

"Yeah..." Shego said, smiling down at the young slumbering red-head as she grabbed the pitchers and glasses.

She suddenly realized that the younger woman was quite beautiful, even under the chaotic light of the TV. She had noticed that Kim was attractive before, of course, but she'd never attached the word 'beautiful' to the red-head. She found herself idly imagining about a beautiful Kim and smiled inwardly before she realized what the Hell she was thinking about. The pitchers nearly slipped from her grasped and she nervously caught them, before tearing her eyes away from the red-head and following Ron out into the Possible's kitchen. "Dammit." She muttered under her breath as she deposited the glasses in the sink and almost slammed the pitchers down on the counter.

"What's that about?" Ron asked, moving up behind Shego and running his hands along her tense shoulders before gently massaging them.

"Sorry, Ronnie, I just..." She glanced over her shoulder towards the living room and found her vision filled with Ron's concerned face. "I'm sorry, it's just that Kimmie and Tara kinda unloaded a lot on me tonight." Ron nodded, continuing his gentle ministrations to her neck, and she felt herself relaxing. "You set that up, didn't you?"

"Yeah," he replied almost guiltily. "I figured that it'd be for the best if you learned about the reasons sooner rather than later."

"Hmph," Shego responded gruffly, before pulling herself away from those magical hands that were so good at making her relax, taking the pitchers and placing them in the refrigerator. "You're right, but wrong at the same time. It's got me more confused than anything," she finally said, shrugging.

"Bullshit," Ron said lightly with a smile on his face.

Shego turned, a hot retort on her tongue until she saw the almost naive assurance on Ron's face.

_Maybe he's right..._ she thought, sighing as she moved down the counter to grab the platter. Ron moved up behind her as she turned and he took the platter from her now shaking hands.

"I got the rest of this, you relax," he said with a smile.

Shego nodded and hopped up on the counter where it made an 'L' shape, leaning her elbows on her knees and putting her chin on clasped hands, wordlessly watching Ron's every move as he cleaned up the mess he'd made earlier.

"So why do you think you're confused? The look on your face tonight at the club, and every time I've really paid attention here at the house, has been anything but confused. Maybe you're just worried that you know what you want and aren't sure you like the answer?"

"Maybe," Shego said noncommittally. She shrugged again, dropping her hands down between her knees. "It's just... I used to fantasize about finding someone like Kimmie, and when she started getting old enough..." She stopped, blushing brightly and looking down at her hands. "Then I found out that... I used to hope I could use all that energy against her, turn her over to my side. Maybe convince her to partner up with me, but then you two started dating... Then the Lorwardians came and all the shit that went with it, I figured it was a lost cause, y'know?" Ron nodded as he finished rinsing off the dishes and started placing them in the dishwasher. "Then I sort of settled to becoming her friend, and you both started working with GJ as well as the hero thing, and we all became... I guess best friends like Kimmie said earlier, and well... All that came back with a vengeance."

"Yeah, I kinda noticed you weren't as innocent as you seemed as Miss Go," Ron chuckled, glancing over at Shego, "And Kim never did notice, at least not consciously, that a lot of your actions towards her were about as honest as a political speech." Shego chuckled and nodded in agreement. "And I think that's part of the reason she likes women as much as men, now as much as she denies being attracted in general... So what changed, Shea? You're implying that your fantasies about Kim came back, so...?" He shrugged helplessly, his face quizzical as he stared at the mint hued woman.

"You," Shego said, looking up at him with trepidation in her eyes. "You changed... You got into better shape, you lost most of that lovable idiocy of yours, but didn't change on a base level..." Ron cocked his head, raising an eyebrow and inviting an explanation with a nod. "Don't play stupid, Stoppable; you know as well as I do how hot you are, you and Kimmie both! And that shit back in June, I was convinced she was a dyed in the wool lez and you were available, and... I... Stupid me, I had to go and fall in love with you!" she bit out in a self deprecating tone, reaching up to scrub at her eyes with her palms. "Dammit, I'm not supposed to be this _weak_!" she choked out, fighting sobs that threatened to break out of her chest.

"Shea," Ron gently hushed the teary woman, as he gently placed one arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer to him, reaching to grasp her clasped hands reassuringly. "Shea, it's okay… You're not weak… Never, not in my eyes."

Shego tried to pull away, but his gentle hand on her chin drew her eyes up to his. Through her tear-filled eyes, she saw him lean in slowly, before kissing her gently on the cheek. "You're strong, beautiful, kind and loyal… You keep trying to hide the real you, beneath all that hard exterior, thinking it's a weakness… But Shea… Being able to open your heart and love someone else is not a weakness..." Ron continued softly while gently brushing away her falling tears. "You're truly brave, brave for doing something that might hurt you… And that's why I love you…"

"But... Why?" Shego asked him desperately, tears again springing to her eyes. "How? How can you fall for me when you love Kim so much, Ronnie?"

"Shea, I've had a thing for you since Wade first gave us a mission against you..." Ron admitted sheepishly, pulling away to walk over to the dishwasher and start it up. He turned back to her, blushing lightly as he continued. "And when Kim came out to Tara and me, she admitted she'd wanted to kiss someone for a while. I kinda figured it was you. A few days later, after an argument almost started between us, she confirmed it. She hadn't wanted to tell me the truth, afraid I'd leave her, or something silly like that! I'm sure Tara mentioned that argument?"

"Among others," Shego said, giving Ron a strange look, "You two hide the fact that you're not a perfect couple quite well."

Ron laughed lightly at this, nodding in grudging agreement. "Yeah, well... The second time Tara was with us, back in June... Kim and I went right back to the argument. This time it wasn't centered on Tara, but on you. And y'know what's funny? I told her that I liked someone, a _lot_, and that someone was a woman we both knew. That kinda stopped her on the spot, and she asked me if it was you. When I told her yes, she kinda deflated."

"Did she..." Shego started, looking down at the floor between her legs. "Did she think you wanted to end it with her?"

Ron nodded, "Yes, and you said that 'cause that's what you'd have thought, yes?" Shego nodded, looking at him askance, "You two are_so_ alike... Anyway, when I told Kim no, I wanted to be with her the rest of my life, just like I promised her when I asked her to marry me... She asked me if I wanted you in our relationship like Tara had been. I smiled and said something like 'Yes, but only if you want her, too.'"

"Really?" Shego asked, and Ron laughed as she blushed deeply at the comment.

He leaned against the island in the middle of the Possible's kitchen, the confident, cocky smirk he always wore when he'd flirted with Shego plastered all over his face. "You want to know the craziest part, Shea? When I told her that, she asked me to tell her how I felt about you." He cocked his head slightly to the side, "You want to know how I did that?"

"Yeah," Shego whispered, nodding as she closed her eyes, not wanting to see Ron's face as he told her something she had both dreaded hearing and wanted to hear more than anything else in the world. "Please, Ronnie..."

She was shocked when she felt his fingers lifting her chin up. She hadn't heard him walk over, nor felt him as he'd moved into her personal space. Her eyes sprang open and her head snapped up to see his nose less than a hand's breadth from her face. She let her legs spread apart slightly so he could move in closer, and she began to tremble as she saw the look on his face. Gone was his cocky smirk and reflexive swagger; it had been replaced by a serene, loving smile and a relaxed stance as he moved in as close as the apex of the two counters would allow. "I didn't tell her anything, Shea. I just shared with her my favorite way of telling her how much I love her..." He whispered, his breath washing across her face, drawing a soft whimper from the older woman.

"What, screwing her brains out?" Shego tried to give her voice the strong, sarcastic edge it normally bore, but failed. Instead her voice emanated as husky moan from the back of her throat, nervous and pleading.

"No, as much as I enjoy making love to her, that's not my favorite way..." He had moved in closer, his lips almost brushing hers. "Would you like to know what it is?" he inquired.

"What is it?" Shego asked breathlessly, closing her eyes tightly. She knew the answer already, his actions making it obvious. She also knew that he'd never go beyond what he already had if she didn't ask, and she desperately wanted to know, to understand, and possibly feel how Ron showed his love for Kim.

"It's… Just… This…" he whispered, before closing the infinitesimal distance between their lips and wrapping his arms around her waist.

She expected it coming, felt it coming, but nothing prepared her for the surge of emotion that cascaded over her as her mind slowly grasped the fact that he was kissing her. Her eyes, wide-opened in shock, stared into the warm depths of his soft brown eyes, before they slid their eyes shut. Lost in a sea of her emotions, she felt herself slide comfortably into the chiseled chest of the man she wanted as a lover, her love. Somewhere, at the back of her spinning mind, she felt a great sense of relief washing over her, that she will always be with and be loved and accepted by this man. Just like she felt when she kissed Kim…

When she'd kissed Kim…

Her panicked mind sought to recover itself from what it perceived to be end of all reason. Him, her… Realization welled up within her, that the two of them are so alike in their love, passion and kisses… And they both had a sincere desire within their hearts to share with her the care and attention that they had for each other… In the pit of her stomach, the ball of anxiety that had been building all night exploded, and she wanted to tear herself away from his kiss and her own lingering touch; to run away now matter how lost and confused it left her, even as she half-wondered whether that would be right or not.

_Dammit, why? Why me, I don't... This isn't what I want is it? I don't deserve this..._ she protested to herself as it all washed over and through her again as it had in her car earlier, and she found herself lost in the moment, giving over to her instincts. She tentatively reached her hands up to caress his torso through his shirt, her fingernails roaming from his abdomen to his chest. She gently tracing the solid muscles underneath, earning a few snorts of laughter from Ron as she found several ticklish spots on the blond's body. She breathed out a soft laugh at his sensitivity as parted, angling their mouths to deepen the kiss, and she finally relaxed and returned his kiss, as she had earlier with Kim.

But this time there was no fearful whimper to distract her, no tensing up to snap her back behind her own self-imposed wall, and she gently probed at his mouth with her tongue. Ron complied, but grudgingly, making her work for her reward, which excited her more than she cared to admit. She wrestled her tongue with his, not in an act of dominance, but playfully, as if sparing in a match with no losers._Why...? Why am I doing this to them, to myself..._

Her question echoed hollowly within her own mind, the answer obvious even as she asked it of herself. And the answer terrified her. She stiffened again, wanting to pull away from the comforting arms around her, from the soft lips pressing into hers. And again she froze in shock as Ron's arms loosened around her, giving her whatever freedom she desired. She let her hands stop their wandering and settle about his hips as her mind wrestled with what to do. Her instincts were at war with each other, wanting in turn to either deepen the kiss or push away the man she desired so powerfully. In the end she did neither, as strong, feminine arms slipped between her and Ron, reaching around his waist to clasp onto her hands with a gentle caress.

"Hey Kimmie, weren't you asleep?" Ron asked as he slowly broke the kiss, his attention still on Shego. The older woman had a content but tense expression on her face, as if uncertain how to take the interruption.

"Been awake since you two came in here and took my comfy and warm pillow away," Kim joked playfully, kissing Ron's shoulder gently, "Besides, I've been standing here since Shego sat on the counter. Didn't you two see me?" Kim asked with faux innocence, her voice a tired murmur.

"Um, no, Princess, we didn't," Shego answered with a deep blush, drawing a giggle out of the red-head and a chuckle from Ron. Her face fell slightly "Um, sorry abou-..." she began, only to be interrupted by Kim.

"He's an amazing kisser, isn't he?" she asked dreamily, laying her chin on her fiancé's shoulder and staring up at Shego. "So are you, Shego..." she added with a blush that touched her cheeks and the bridge of her nose. She attempted to hide the blush by ducking her nose below the line of Ron's shoulder, looking over his shoulder at the older woman.

The action drew a more natural smile and a small giggle from Shego, who pulled her hand up from Ron's side, slipping her hand out of Kim's to caress the red-head's cheek. Kim nuzzled her cheek into Shego's palm, and the older woman chuckled at the display. "You're such a kitten at times," she said softly, and Kim's blush deepened. Shego sighed and shook her head, then glanced between the two people that were her best friends, the couple that considered her their best friend and wanted so much more than that from her. "You two are really serious about this, aren't you?" she whispered.

"Mmhmm," Kim murmured, raising a hand and pressing Shego's palm to her lips, kissing gently as she clasped the older woman's hand in hers. "I mean, only if you want it too, Shea..." she continued in a soft voice.

"What about what other people will think, like your families?" Shego asked, looking down and closing her eyes, not bothering to fight the contentment flowing through her body at the contact with her two friends.

"They already know about Tara, and if something started between us I don't think it'll change anything." Kim said in a deadpan tone. Shego raised her eyes and gave Kim a quizzical look.

"My parents and li'l sis don't mind, and her dad and the Tweebs seem alright with it, amazingly enough." Ron added softly. "Her mom's the one that's... Difficult."

"That's kind of a surprise," Shego muttered, now looking concerned.

"It doesn't matter, Shea. She wants to be a bitch about it 'cause she thinks I'm making a mistake. My daddy and the Tweebs support it, so it doesn't matter!" Kim said with a snort.

"Um, Princess?" Shego asked, looking down at their clasped hands. Kim looked as well, and with a surprised grunt loosened her hold on Shego's hand. "It seems to matter a bit more than you're saying?" Shego asked with a slightly teasing glint in her eyes.

"Sorry," Kim said bashfully, hiding her face behind Ron's shoulder again. "Yeah... Yeah, you're right... I think it's because she's supported me in so much else, I guess. I mean, she's my mom and I love her and all, but it pisses me off so much that she can't be happy for me making decisions that aren't related to what everyone else in the world thinks, y'know?"

Shego nodded, then let her hand fall from Kim's grip. "And speaking of parents and your bros, shouldn't they be home from Montana soon?" Shego asked. Ron and Kim looked at the clock and nodded, "Then I'd better get going," she said, unconsciously sliding her feet behind Ron, just under his rump.

"Um, Shego?" Ron said, glancing down and back at her foot.

"I said I should, not that I wanted to," Shego replied in a dry tone, a look on her face that bore some of the fire the other two were familiar with. "Anyway, um... About us?"

"Yeah, Shea?" Ron asked, and Kim slipped around to lean against the counter, slipping an arm around Ron's shoulder and Shego's waist.

"I... I like you both, I mean, a lot. Well..." She looked at Kim, who she now knew had heard the conversation she'd shared with Ron, "Well, love Ron, and maybe... I dunno, this is all so... I've never done anything like this before, sexually or relationship-wise!" she growled out, laying her head on Ron's chest and breathing heavily to control her emotions. "I'm scared to say yes, because what if something happens, or if I fuck this relationship up? I couldn't handle that, guys! I've been heartbroken before, and I really,_really_ don't want it to happen again! And I couldn't stand the thought of losing you two as my friends."

"Shea," Kim said seriously, drawing Shego's eyes to her. "I don't care what happened in the past! Either between us _or_ between you and someone neither of us even _know_. It's the past, so let is _stay_ there. We don't want to force this on you, Shea, just think about it, if nothing else."

"Yeah... Yeah, Princess, I'll definitely need to think about it. I... I won't make you two wait, I promise, but..."

"But nothing, Shea," Ron interrupted with a gently caress to her cheek. "Don't apologize for having to take your time to make a decision this big. We just wanted you to know, okay?" Shego nodded and slipped her arms around both Kim and Ron, drawing them into a tight, almost desperate hug.

"I do love you guys, I just... I know I love Ron, Kimmie, but... Like I said, I don't know how I feel about you... I mean, I..."

"_Shea_!" Kim snapped, reaching her arm up to stroke her fingers through Shego's hair, "Don't worry about it. We just got back together as friends, and I kinda unloaded a lot of stuff on you today! We'll figure it out together, 'kay? I promise."

"Okay," Shego said simply, letting the warmth from her two friends flow into her. "Okay, I'll... Yeah." She pulled back and smiled awkwardly as Ron and Kim pulled back from her. She sat on the counter as the silence stretched out awkwardly, before sliding off the counter and asking "Y'think it'll still be fine if I come over for the early Christmas thing tomorrow?"

"Shouldn't be a problem, Shego," Kim said as she walked Shego to the door. "Just don't mention any of this around my mom," She added darkly, her expression hovering between frustration and anger.

"I'll try not to, but if I do, well... That's life, Kimmie." Shego said sagely, and they both sniggered briefly at the tone of voice Shego had used.

"Yup." Kim nodded and smirked at Shego. The older woman quirked an eyebrow at the sudden expression, then almost flinched back as Kim leaned in and planted a quick, but intense kiss on her lips. "You go home and get some sleep, and... Sorry for, y'know, being such a bitch back in June and unloading all this on you tonight."

"It's ok, Princess," Shego said, reaching out and cupping the red-head's cheek briefly. She glanced out at where her car was parked and realized several inches of snow had fallen while she'd been hanging out with Ron and Kim. "Shit..." she muttered, then turned back to Kim. "Sorry, anyway, it's no big, Princess. Like you just said, it's in the past." Shego glanced at her watch, grimacing at the time. "It's three now, so I should be here around ten thirty in the morning, if they get the roads plowed, 'kay?"

"Sure!" Kim said and waved as the older woman turned away.

"See you tomorrow!" Shego exclaimed before turning and walking briskly out the front door to her car. She started her car and began brushing the snow off, cursing mildly as she scraped the ice from the windows that had formed under the snow. As she settled into her seat and buckled her seat belt, she saw the lights in the front room go out and raised her fingers to her lips. Flipping down her sun visor and opening the vanity mirror, she looked at her mouth and saw a small trace of Kim's lipstick on her own lips and sighed. That little tingle from Kim's goodbye kiss still lingered on her lips, and she reached up to trace her fingers along where their lips had met. "Dammit, Kimmie, Ronnie, what're you two doing to me?" she asked aloud, before backing out of the driveway and heading towards her home. She knew, however, that she wouldn't be getting much sleep that night, and cursed herself for her own indecision.

_I know how I feel, I know how _they_ feel... Why should I let one mistake make this so hard on me?_

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**Authors' Notes**

Well... This chapter was a bit longer than expected, but then again, it had a lot to get across. One of the things that was a struggle was showing that Kim and Shego weren't sober, but at the same time, still with it enough to even have the conversations they had. It was particularly challenging with Shego, trying to show her being tipsy enough to be honest with herself, Kim, and Ron, while not being so drunk she couldn't drive Kim home. Hopefully her conversations didn't wander too much, but still that enough random haphazardness to get across that not _quite_ clear thinking aspect being drunk.

Another thing was making Ron come across as a more mature version of what we're familiar with in the series. Obviously he'd still look to Rufus for advice, and yes, although he'd be like a billion years old in this, he's still got MMP flowing through him thanks to Ron, so he will probably be around for a long, long while. The two of them combined obviously set up a good after party cool down that helped Kim and Shego both center, at least a little bit, as well as allowed him some alone time with Shego to discuss important matters.

And now comes to the kisses that Kim and then Ron shared with Shego... They could have been overmuch, and may indeed have been... But at the same time, it seems to fit both Kim and Shego's personalities, such that they'd be as comfortable, if not more so, attacking something like this from the physical side as much as talking things out. Not entirely sure if that came across as well as it could have...

Anyway, hopefully you've enjoyed the chapter, there's obviously more to come, but Noobfish and I will be pretty busy with "The Human Element, Book II: Synthesis of a New Life" and possibly other projects... But this is not going to be abandoned, especially since there's already about a thousand words in chapter five already written! We will try to avoid any serious delays in this fic's progress.


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